Why I love the Julio Jones Trade

[Peyton]

I heard a lot of football people saying "well, they shouldn't make that trade unless they think they are real close and they just need one more piece".

Well....without debating the merits of that particular argument, why wouldn't the Falcons think they are real close? 33-15 over the last three years, and a number 1 seed in 2010, and a very young defense. Of course they are close.

From my point of view, and I said this a million times on this board, maybe 2 million, the weakest position on this team on either offense or defense was WR2. Now..some people agreed with me, and a lot of people didn't, and I haven't been proven right, but considering my previous point of view, how could I not love the Falcons focusing on WR2?

The Falcons obviously felt Green and Jones were pretty sure things. While they may or may not have preferred Green, I think that Jones fits the desired personality of this team better than Green. He's tough as nails, and that is something lacking on the WR side. He might be less inclined to make the spectacular leaping grab than Green is, but I also think he is less inclined to turn into your protypical WR primadona.

I just think the guy has it all. Speed, strength, toughness. His biggest question is his hands, but I think that is the easiest thing to imrpove through practice......see Roddy White.

The draft picks only become a big deal if two things happen: Julio is a busts, and the Falcons fail to sign some of their own OL FA or effectively replace them. I don't think either of those things are going to happen.

The Falcons still need for Bierman to break out this year or possibly sign Ray Edwards to take that spot, and they could use a corner. I'd be OK with the Falcons making a play for Nnamdi, but he is probably going to be a Cowboy, and I doubt the Falcons would target back to back big name FAs at the same position. Either way, finding a decent veteran nickel back should be doable.

Let's get this lockout over, I'm back to being an unapologetic homer.

[Swift Is a Die Hard]

Peyton - I dont think its financially possible for us to get Nnamdi, Ray Edwards, Grimes and half of our oline and factor in the contract we have to ante up for Jones.

As for the draft pick becoming a big deal in my opinion is if we miss out of playoffs next year and we pick from like 10-15
then we will look back and say wow that kind of move hurt the team . I dont think Jones will be a bust but we might not see the full extent
of this trade until 3-4 years down road.. I wanted to upgrade the 2wr position I screamed for Dez when he fell into our laps and I understand he might have some issues but i would feel much better about the team going forth if we didnt have to give up next years 1st and 4th

[mdrake34]

I'll post this here instead of creating yet another thread on the debate on whether we gave up to much. pa falcon fan posted this on AFMB, and it's a great article that I want to share here about another "blockbuster trade" involving trading picks (and also some players) that the Jets made with the Browns a few years back when they traded up to get Sanchez. The article points out Sanchez's success and shows what the Brown's draft choice from that draft with their picks for the trade have done - namely, jack shit.

Am I saying the two trades are exactly alike? No, we gave up more draft choices and no players. Am I saying both franchises were in the same state when the trade was made? No. Am I saying both franchises are run the same? No. Is Sanchez the same player as Julio, or will they have identical impacts? No.

However, the point of the article is to show how a similar trade worked for the Jets, and how the Browns managed to fuck up every single draft choice and draft shitty players. Greg Little is an example of that this year. He is David Boston 2.0. Might not be HGH'd out, but he's 230 lbs. as a rookie; after a few more years of running fly routes with his knees supporting all of that weight, he'll be done.

Without further ado, the article:

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/jets/po...rk-sanchez
Monday is the two-year anniversary of the Jets' blockbuster trade for Mark Sanchez. It seemed like a great deal at the time, and it continues to get better with age.

Desperate for a quarterback after Brett Favre's one-and-done in New York, the Jets traded their first-round pick (17th), their second-round pick (52nd) and three marginal veterans to the Browns -- DE Kenyon Coleman, S Abe Elam and QB Brett Ratliff. The Jets jumped 12 spots in the first-round order, selecting Sanchez fifth overall.

What made this deal so intriguing was that it probably wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for Eric Mangini, whom the Jets fired only four months earlier. Mangini, installing his program in Cleveland, wanted familiar faces that knew his system, which is why he took Coleman, Elam and Ratliff. There wasn't another team in the league that would've agreed to that trade, but the Jets got lucky because of Mangini.

The Redskins, picking 13th, also were hot for Sanchez, but they refused to give in to the Browns' demand -- a future No. 1 pick. The Browns didn't make the same demand of the Jets, settling for the three players.

How did the trade turn out? The Jets couldn't be happier with Sanchez, who has a 19-12 starting record plus four post-season victories. It was a franchise-altering trade that solidified the Jets' quarterback position. (Imagine if they hadn't fired Mangini.)

As for the Browns, they traded down to 19 and again to 21, picking up extra draft picks (191 and 195). The Browns' final haul from the Sanchez trade:

• C Alex Mack (21st overall) -- One of the better young centers in the league.

• DE David Veikune (52nd overall) -- Cut by Browns, played in four games last season for the Broncos.

• CB Coye Francies (191st overall) -- Has appeared in only eight games in two seasons. No interceptions.

• RB James Davis (195th overall) -- Cut by the Browns, signed by the Redskins.

• Coleman -- Full-time starter. Solid run defender, only four sacks the last two seasons.

• Elam -- A solid starter. Two sacks, two interceptions last season.

• Ratliff -- Hasn't appeared in an NFL game. Now a member of the Titans.

[markdzul]

I love the trade for the reason there is a lot of strife on this board. T.D. say what you want to say about the state of our football franchise and drubbing in the playoffs last year, we seem to be trending in the correct direction of winning and improving our franchise. He is putting together a nucleus of young and exciting players with a sprinkling of experienced veterans. The man is not afraid of going out and making a bold move to get us to the ultimate goal of winning a superbowl. To boot we have an owner that is not afraid of spending a dollar to put a great product on the field.

Yes I am a homer and that does not proclude me from questioning front office moves such as the J.J. trade, but I do admit everyonce in a while that TD may know a little bit more about football, scouting, and personel than I do. Afterall thats what he has done his entire life. I sell HVAC equipment and LP gas. Think he may have a little bit more time to do his evaluations than I do...

[Gritz]

Good posts both Peyton and mdrake....

We obviously were without much of an answer when Roddy drew the double team and/or had extra defenders shadowing his every move. Defenses won't be able to do that now with a more than legitimate #2 WR lined up now.

People who have coached and played with Julio say that the kid absolutely loves to block also so there shouldn't be much of a drop off from Jenkins in that area.

I like the move.

It's funny....All TD and Smitty have said since the season ended was that we needed to get more explosive. We go out and do it and it seems like more than half the fan base is upset.

[karst41]

JJ is going to Beast it Up from Day 1.

He Is Randy Moss ver. 2.0 new and improved.

[mdrake34]

(05-08-2011 12:17 PM)karst41 Wrote:  JJ is going to Beast it Up from Day 1.

He Is Randy Moss ver. 2.0 new and improved.

Don't think he's Moss 2.0. He's Julio 1.0.

[atljbo]

I dont see us going after Nnamdi... I think we are settled with our island CB's... I do see us getting a DE... A CBA getting done would also help out with Julio Jones salary

[karst41]

(05-08-2011 12:21 PM)mdrake34 Wrote:  Don't think he's Moss 2.0. He's Julio 1.0.

You got that right.

I throw the Moss thing out there for folks to
understand the firepower of JJ.

Some players have to adjust to the speed of the NFL.
Players like JJ and AJ are NFL ready and the league will have
to adjust to them.

[Beef]

Great post Peyton. I was one of the folks arguing with you about WR#2 being a big deficiency and ultimately it looks like you were right. I really thought it wasn't about #2, I felt Jenkins would be fine because HD was supposed to be the guy to spread out defenses. But of course that didn't happen. Jenkins actually played really well too considering he missed 5 games. I still think if HD & Norwood would have done what we expected we would have matched up with everyone & had numerous blowouts rather than so many close games.

But here we stand. That WR to spread out defenses was clearly priority #1 since HD & Norwood flopped & you were right. We put too much faith in them. Now we're putting a lot of faith in someone else. This is why I'm glad TD went for what should be a sure thing rather than settling for Hankerson and the like, which might end up being good or even great someday, but arent near sure things. It was a brilliant move for now and the future.

You are absolutely right, we are very close. Especially after the Quizz Rodgers pick too. 2 holes on defense is all that's left to make the 2011 team as complete as reasonably possible. We can't have 22 probowlers. But we get someone viable to platoon with Biermann and another decent CB to at least create competition with Owens at nickel and give some mire corner depth we are good to go.

8th circuit makes a decision tomorrow or Tues supposedly. We need to pray for FA before we all go nuts.