The Atlanta Falcons Risk It All For Julio Jones

Put an ear out your window and take a listen. If you hear Paul Simon's "Me And Julio" playing softly in the moonlight. Well, that's Falcon's quarterback Matt Ryan's stereo you're hearing as he's just found a new receiver to play catch with on the football field.

The Falcons shocked a few folks tonight when they moved up from 27th to 6th to select University of Alabama wide receiver, Julio Jones.

In order to pull off the feat, the Falcons gave the Cleveland Browns their 1st, 2nd, and 4th round picks of 2011, as well as their 1st and 4th round picks in 2012. The message, seeming to be, the Falcons are ready to win now.

This seems to be a curious move by the usually very shrewd Thomas Dimitroff as he is known for choosing players carefully and having an eye for the kinds of guys who aren't typically on anyone's radar.

That said, some might wonder, if Dimitroff was going to take a risk, then why not reach a little higher and get A.J. Green?

Green was the sure thing in the minds of many and the Falcons definitely liked what they saw out of him during his pro day.

The answer to that question is likely tied to Cincinnati's willingness to negotiate with the Falcons brass.

Clearly, the Bengals were in need of a franchise receiver to play alongside Jordan Shipley (their 2010 selection from Texas) with Terrell Owens gone and Chad Ochocinco's time running out fast. They need help at receiver now and they couldn't have been confident that they would find a difference maker of Green's caliber anywhere outside of the Top 10.

So, whatever the Falcons were offering, unless it was Roddy White or Matt Ryan, wasn't going to be enough.

By contrast, the Browns have a plethora of needs and second-year GM, Mike Holmgren, is comfortable building his team, patiently, through the draft. He needed picks and the Falcons were ready, willing, and able to answer the call. Hence it was going to be Julio and not A.J.
who ended up as a Falcon.

If Jones is able to become a competent No. 2 playing next to Roddy White, then the Falcons have just made one of the most important moves of the night, but if this backfires, they just mortgaged their future on a guy who a mere three months ago wasn't even on many teams' radar as a Top 10 player.



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