Tennessee Titans WR Julio Jones was one of the biggest names to change teams during the offseason, coming over from the Atlanta Falcons by way of a trade. Below, we look at Julio Jones‘ 2021 fantasy football average draft position (ADP) and where you should draft him.
There is a lot of excitement in Nashville, the NFL in general, and amongst fantasy managers about Jones moving on to Tennessee. Well, excitement if you’re not a long-term keeper player with stock in WR A.J. Brown.
The 32-year-old Jones was limited to just nine games last season in Atlanta, failing to reach 1,000 receiving yards for the first time since 2013. His three total touchdowns were his lowest since, again, 2013.
Jones was able to register nearly six receptions per game, and he had just shy of eight targets per contest while going for a healthy 15.1 yards per reception. He can still be rather productive despite the fact he is easily on the back nine of his career, and the clubhouse is well within sight.
Jones’ ADP: 59.36
(ADP data courtesy of MyFantasyLeague.com)
Gone are the days Jones would fly off the fantasy draft board as one of the top two receivers taken. He isn’t even the top fantasy option on the Tennessee roster as that option belongs to Brown, whose ADP is 36.22.
Jones can still be a rather productive fantasy wideout and he is worthy of being a low-end WR2 or flex option in an offense which should be extremely productive. He goes from Falcons QB Matt Ryan to QB Ryan Tannehill, and really, the change should be rather seamless. The quarterbacks are basically the same player, with Tannehill a little on the younger side.
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Jones’ 2020 stats
Receiving: 51 receptions (68 targets) for 771 yards
Touchdowns: 3 receiving
Fumbles: 0
Where should you take Jones in your fantasy football draft?
Full disclosure, I’m trying not to be biased, but I have a Jones problem. I drafted him in 2013, and again in 2020, and he burned me both times. I promised never again, but that’s a me problem.
To be fair, he is 32 years old, so that’s reason enough to shy away and roll with a younger roster instead. But his 15.1 yards per reception in 2020 is still right in line with his career numbers.
In fact, it’s nearly identical, as he has averaged 15.2 yards per grab on 848 career receptions. So, he has more than enough in the tank.
Jones will have to compete with Brown for targets, and he is clearly the No. 2 wideout on the field. We haven’t really seen that before. As such, Jones has devolved into more of a low-end WR2, must-start WR3 or flex option.
Reluctantly, if I were able to get Jones for depth in the latter stages of Round 5 or into Round 6, I’d roll the dice on him, but certainly no earlier.
Between age, his penchant for injury, acclimating to a new team and city, etc. … there are just too many things which can go wrong, and very little upside.
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