eWho’s the greatest receiver of all-time?
Jerry Rice, Steve Largent, Calvin Johnson, Don Hutson and Larry Fitzgerald are the top five on a list of 25 compiled by Aaron Tallent of Athlon Sports in February.
Fitzgerald was the lone active player on the list.
The player-fueled debate raged over the offseason about who is the top receiver in the NFL among active players.
New Orleans' Michael Thomas and Arizona’s DeAndre Hopkins laid claim to the title, while Jones remained humble, minding his own offseason business, hiking trails in California and Georgia to clear his mind during the coronavirus pandemic and get ready for the season.
“I love nature,” Jones said.
The player who’ll have all of the Falcons' receiving records when he retires, clearly is at the top of the game.
“As far as the wide receivers, you look at Julio Jones as the best wide receiver in the National Football League,” NBC analyst Rodney Harrison said. “Then you have to go between DeAndre Hopkins and Michael Thomas. I think those three guys are the cream of the crop just because of how consistent they’ve been and with what they bring every week.”
Hall of Fame wide receiver James Lofton, who played for Green Bay (1978-86), the Los Angeles Raiders (1987-88), Buffalo (1989-92), Philadelphia (1993) and the Los Angeles Rams (1993), is a Jones supporter.
“He doesn’t pound his chest and say look at me,” said Lofton, who’s an analyst for CBS Sports. “He could easily do that.”
Lofton ranked 12th on the Athlon list. He played 233 games and caught 764 passes for 14,004 yards and 75 touchdowns.
Jones will enter the season with 126 games played, 797 catches for 12,125 yards and 57 touchdowns.
“You know, you can say this and you can that, but actions speak louder than words,” Jones said. “You just have to go out there and perform.”
Jones, turned 31 over the offseason, but feels like he can still play at an elite level.
“I still feel great,” Jones said. “Each and every year I try to do everything that I can do to feel and be at my best, year-in and year-out. Whether it’s taking care of my body, getting the treatment that I need, eating right, sleeping right.”
Lofton coached wide receivers for the Chargers (2002-07) and with the Oakland Raiders (2008).
“It was funny, when I was coaching the receivers for the Chargers, I kind of came up with little things to impress the other people in the meetings as you are reviewing players,” said Lofton, who played at Stanford. "I came up with my four S’s for the position: size, speed, strength and then the intangible skill. Julio Jones, it is a very short argument when you say who’s the best receiver the league, who are the two best or who are the three best.
“In each one of those, if you left out his name, you’d be way off-base because he has the size. He has the speed. He is strong and he has skill in route-running. Great hand-to-eye coordination, and he has the ability to make the impossible catch look routine, and then he’s good at run after the catch.”
Jones holds the Falcons' all-time receiving yardage record. He needs 12 receptions and seven touchdowns to pass Roddy White for the most receptions and touchdowns in team history.
“I’m hard-pressed to think who I would put in front of him,” Lofton said. "I understood the only knock on him would be his feet. Just trying to absolutely stay healthy. But going into his 10th year, he’s missed a couple of games here and there. He’s off the field sometimes.
“But he plays hard, too. So, when he’s trying to play 70 plays a game, and he’s going all-out as opposed to doing the pro glide on the running plays when they are going in the opposite direction. He’s going to need a break every once in a while. He is a sport car. He’s not a SUV. He’s not a four-door sedan. He’s the ultimate electric-hybrid sports car.”
Falcons coach Dan Quinn is pleased to have Jones and his leadership.
“He’s huge,” Quinn said. “The way he came in and approaches it, his accountability, you can multiply that by the way he goes after his work. Not just is he a great talent, but (there’s) a great character part of it, too. That’s not always the case. It certainly has been for him.”
Jones ranked second in the NFL with 1,394 yards last season and became the third wide receiver, joining Antonio Brown and Torry Holt, to have 1,250-plus receiving yards in six consecutive seasons in NFL history.
Jones reached 12,000 yards receiving in the fewest games in league history, 125. His 55 career games with 100 yards receiving or more rank fourth in NFL history.
Quinn expects another big season from Jones.
“He looks fast,” Quinn said. "He looks explosive like he always does. It’s all of the things that maybe don’t show up on the stat sheet that makes him the most special player. We are certainly fortunate.
“He is 100 percent at the top of his game heading into the season.”
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