What Matt Ryan thinks people don’t appreciate about Julio Jones
2 min readWhen it comes to knowing the ins and outs about Tennessee Titans wide receiver Julio Jones, nobody in the NFL knows better than his former teammate and quarterback, Atlanta Falcons signal-caller Matt Ryan.
Ryan, who threw passes to Jones for a decade, was a guest on The Ringer’s Football Show a few weeks prior to the trade and was asked what people don’t appreciate about Jones.
Here was his answer (H/T Michael Giardi of NFL Network):
“I think it’s the violence with which he runs. It’s so intimidating. He is so physically gifted in making people feel that he is just going to blow right by him. His stride length, his gait, it’s unbelievable. It’s impressive to watch. It never gets old. You can be around him for as long as I have and you watch it every day and it’s always very impressive. He is as good as anybody of getting guys feeling like he is running a go route or running a post route and then his ability to stop at that level of explosiveness and still come out of it at 6-foot-3, as big and strong as he is, it is not easy to do and nobody can do it but him. It’s impressive to watch every day. He does it with such consistency too, which is impressive. He is really incredibly consistent with those types of routes.”
If there’s any team in the NFL that appreciates the kind of traits Jones brings to the table, it’s the Titans.
After all, they sport two of the most physical and intimidating offensive players in the NFL already in running back Derrick Henry and wide receiver A.J. Brown, both of whom use speed, size and strength to make big plays.
And that’s what makes the addition of Jones even more intriguing. The Titans now have three players who are matchup nightmares and possess a rare combination of traits that make them a threat from anywhere on the field.
