NBC analysts Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison, of the Football Night In America show, were asked by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the Falcons’ red problems.
“You definitely want to utilize him and see how defenses are going to try to take him away,” Dungy said. “I don’t think a great offensive coordinator would force every ball to him, but you would make people double cover him, make them tip their hand, and that’s going to help other people. But definitely you’ve got to use Julio, and the fact that he’s such a big target in the red zone, he’s got to be a factor, and I’m sure Atlanta is going to do that.”
Jones caught only 6 of 22 passes (27 percent) thrown to him inside the 20-yard line for one touchdown in 2017. By comparison, Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown caught 13 of 23 (56.5 percent) of his passes in the red zone for six touchdowns.
Harrison, who played safety for 15 seasons in the NFL, would consider force-feeding Jones.
“I would like to see him — even if they have to maybe every now and then force the ball a little bit more to him in the red zone, he’s such a big target, such a dangerous receiver, he should have more of an impact in the red zone,” Harrison said. “That’s something I would like to see the offensive coordinator do.”
Also, Harrison, who was a nominee for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018 and will likely be on the 2019 list, was asked about Falcons strong safety Keanu Neal, who went to his first Pro Bowl last season.
“I think Neal is a tremendous young safety,” Harrison said. “I think the biggest weakness — if I’m Philadelphia, I’m looking at exposing him in coverage.
“He’s a very big guy, he’s very physical, but at times you can see he has some stiffness in his hips, and he struggles to cover.
“And if one of my athletic tight ends — one-on-one opportunities, and really exposing his weakness, and that’s his biggest weakness as a safety is his inability to cover those tight ends one-on-one.”
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