Post by Guvmintcheeze on Sept 9, 2015 20:55:04 GMT
Historic fantasy season for Julio Jones? Roddy White is a believer
Vaughn McClure, ESPN Staff Writer
Everyone knows Julio Jones is the fantasy football keeper for the Atlanta Falcons.
ESPN.com's fantasy analyst Matthew Berry even went as far as to say Jones will have the best fantasy football season for a wide receiver in the history of the NFL. Berry made the claim in his yearly bold predictions column.
Falcons veteran receiver Roddy White, of course, supports his teammate and good friend Jones on everything. And White had no problem backing Berry's bold prediction.
"I don't know what the fantasy records are, but more than likely he will surpass whatever records are out there," White said of Jones. "I mean, you've seen him the past few years. He's on his 'A' game. He's ready to play. He's ready to go out there and do what he do week in and week out.
"The thing I love about Julio is just how consistent he's been each week just getting himself prepared mentally to go out there and play. That's what I always preach to him and all of our wide receiver group. Every Sunday -- every Monday night -- we've got to go out and be as consistent as possible. And he's been doing that. He's been executing and doing him. It's only going to help our team win."
Jones set a franchise record with 1,593 receiving yards on a career-high 104 receptions last season with six touchdowns. In the Falcons' new scheme under offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, Jones will be moved around to different receiver spots rather than just the traditional "X" role in order to create more mismatches. Plus, the additions of Leonard Hankerson, rookie Justin Hardy and tight Jacob Tamme -- along with the presence of White -- means opposing teams might have to play Jones more honest, knowing he has other capable threats around him.
"You've got to move him around," White said of Jones. "Any time you put somebody stationary in this league, defensive coordinators are so smart they can take guys out of the game with double teams. You've got to help your guy out. You've got to help him get out there and catch passes. It's important for us to put formations together where we can move him around so they can't pinpoint where he's going to be on each and every play."
So how many touchdowns does White predict for Jones?
"I don't know, man," he said. "He'll put on a show, though."
For the record, the highest fantasy total for a receiver since 1960 (based on ESPN's scoring standard) is 284 points by Jerry Rice in 1995, according to Tristan Cockcroft of ESPN Fantasy. That year, Rice had 1,848 receiving yards on 122 receptions with 15 touchdown receptions.
We'll see if Jones gets off to a fast start against Philadelphia come Monday night. The Eagles ranked second-to-last in the league last season in surrendering an average of 264.88 passing yards per game. But they tried to shore up their secondary with the additions of former Seattle Seahawks Byron Maxwell and Walter Thurmond.
Vaughn McClure, ESPN Staff Writer
Everyone knows Julio Jones is the fantasy football keeper for the Atlanta Falcons.
ESPN.com's fantasy analyst Matthew Berry even went as far as to say Jones will have the best fantasy football season for a wide receiver in the history of the NFL. Berry made the claim in his yearly bold predictions column.
Falcons veteran receiver Roddy White, of course, supports his teammate and good friend Jones on everything. And White had no problem backing Berry's bold prediction.
"I don't know what the fantasy records are, but more than likely he will surpass whatever records are out there," White said of Jones. "I mean, you've seen him the past few years. He's on his 'A' game. He's ready to play. He's ready to go out there and do what he do week in and week out.
"The thing I love about Julio is just how consistent he's been each week just getting himself prepared mentally to go out there and play. That's what I always preach to him and all of our wide receiver group. Every Sunday -- every Monday night -- we've got to go out and be as consistent as possible. And he's been doing that. He's been executing and doing him. It's only going to help our team win."
Jones set a franchise record with 1,593 receiving yards on a career-high 104 receptions last season with six touchdowns. In the Falcons' new scheme under offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, Jones will be moved around to different receiver spots rather than just the traditional "X" role in order to create more mismatches. Plus, the additions of Leonard Hankerson, rookie Justin Hardy and tight Jacob Tamme -- along with the presence of White -- means opposing teams might have to play Jones more honest, knowing he has other capable threats around him.
"You've got to move him around," White said of Jones. "Any time you put somebody stationary in this league, defensive coordinators are so smart they can take guys out of the game with double teams. You've got to help your guy out. You've got to help him get out there and catch passes. It's important for us to put formations together where we can move him around so they can't pinpoint where he's going to be on each and every play."
So how many touchdowns does White predict for Jones?
"I don't know, man," he said. "He'll put on a show, though."
For the record, the highest fantasy total for a receiver since 1960 (based on ESPN's scoring standard) is 284 points by Jerry Rice in 1995, according to Tristan Cockcroft of ESPN Fantasy. That year, Rice had 1,848 receiving yards on 122 receptions with 15 touchdown receptions.
We'll see if Jones gets off to a fast start against Philadelphia come Monday night. The Eagles ranked second-to-last in the league last season in surrendering an average of 264.88 passing yards per game. But they tried to shore up their secondary with the additions of former Seattle Seahawks Byron Maxwell and Walter Thurmond.