When Atlanta moved up 20 spots in the 2011 NFL Draft to choose Alabama wide receiver Julio Jones at No. 6, the Falcons did not get a consensus All-American or even the first SEC wide receiver of that year’s draft.
Jones was coming off a record-breaking season, though. The former Foley High School standout set Crimson Tide single-season marks with 78 receptions and 1,133 receiving yards in 2010. He didn’t lead the SEC in either category, and the big showing didn’t make him the Alabama career leader in either stat, although he did earn first-team All-SEC recognition for the only time.
Jones said Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff saw what other NFL evaluators missed.
“A lot of people wouldn’t have known what type of receiver I was because I didn’t really have the film to really kind of showcase outside of what other people (were) doing at other universities at the time,” Jones said.
Jones, who announced his retirement on April 4, discussed his NFL career with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s D. Orlando Ledbetter, including the trade that preceded it.
In a trade worked out in the weeks before the 2011 NFL Draft and executed on draft night, the Falcons flipped the No. 26 choice to the Cleveland Browns for the sixth, 59th and 124th selections in the 2011 draft and what turned out to be the 22nd and 118th picks in the 2012 draft.
“For me coming from college, people didn’t really understand what type of receiver that I was or what I would become because at Alabama I had — I guess, I had moments,” Jones said. “But again it was just more so the way I loved to block. It was like we ran the ball first, pass second, so it wasn’t like a West Coast offense.
“For them to see what type of person I was and what type of player I would be in the sense of a team-first guy, a guy that will go out and give his all in the running game and then just try to be the best teammate, I think that shows a lot of what TD and the guys seen in me at that time.”
Before the Falcons lined up Jones, the 2011 NFL Draft started with the Carolina Panthers picking Auburn quarterback Cam Newton at No. 1 followed by Texas A&M pass-rusher Von Miller to the Denver Broncos at No. 2, Alabama defensive tackle Marcell Dareus to the Buffalo Bills at No. 3, Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green to the Cincinnati Bengals at No. 4 and LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson to the Arizona Cardinals at No. 5.
Jones spent 10 seasons with Atlanta and set franchise records with 848 receptions and 12,896 receiving yards. He received Pro Bowl recognition seven times and earned first-team All-Pro selection twice. Jones led the NFL in receiving yards in two seasons and the NFC in receiving yards for five consecutive seasons.
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The Falcons won 80 regular-season games, reached the postseason four times and played in Super Bowl LI during Jones’ 10 seasons in Atlanta.
The trade did not work out as well for the Browns. Over the next 10 seasons, Cleveland won 48 regular-season games and went to the playoffs once.
The Browns made three of the picks acquired for Jones. Cleveland chose North Carolina wide receiver Greg Little at No. 59 and Stanford fullback Owen Marecic at No. 124 in 2011 and Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden at No. 22 in 2012.
The Browns used the other two picks in trades for selections that netted Baylor defensive tackle Phil Taylor at No. 21 in the 2011 draft and Alabama running back Trent Richardson at No. 3 in the 2012 draft.
With four seasons in Cleveland, Taylor lasted the longest with the Browns, who had a 5-15 record in games started by Weeden.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.
