Julio Jones...

[YankeeRebel]

Weird. Still has two years left on his monster contract he signed in 2015. Wonder why he's crabby.

He's a WR it's a natural occurrence sort of like an Irishman drinking.

 

[Across The Field]

Jeffrey isn't elite. Thomas, I'll give you that to some degree... but that team won it's Super Bowl on the back of a defense. Question, was Thomas under a new contract or his initial one? I feel like the last elite WR group that won a Super Bowl was the Rams with Holt/Bruce.

I think when he's healthy, Jeffrey is one of the 10 best WRs in the game. He was tied for 4th in the league in receiving TDs last year and was a monster throughout the playoffs.

I'm not sure what his contract status was tbh, but you're right about the defense winning it. The Giants in 2012 had Victor Cruz, who was 3rd in the league in receiving that year. The Packers won with Greg Jennings in 2011 when he was in the middle of a 5 year stretch of averaging 1100+ yards and 9 TDs per season. I'd say at that time, those guys were definitely elite.

 

[Iggloo]

I think you need solid receivers to win in the current game, but as the Pats have shown, the notion that you need a "#1 wr" who is dominant is less important than having several good receivers and being able to spread the ball around well. Randy Moss has no rings. TO has no rings. Calvin Johnson has no rings. That shows you the trend right there.

 

[Iggloo]

As for Jeffery's salary, he is the 12th highest paid wideout now. It's not unreasonable from a cap standpoint. He was originally signed to a one year deal last season but Philly extended him right before the big playoff run, which now looks smart.

Wide Receiver Contracts and Salaries | Over The Cap

 

[Battlelyon]

Wide Receiver is the most overrated position in football, it is luxury to have a good receiver but not a necessity. Too many selfish guys that could care less about team chemistry only care about their stats. Even team oriented ones never put a team over the top. Randy Moss couldn't even win one in the Patriots dynasty.

Hall of Fame WR with no rings
Larry Fitzgerald
Terrell Owens
Randy Moss
Steve Largent
Lance Alworth
Charlie Joiner
James Lofton
Cris Carter
Calvin Johnson

 

[DirtDirtDirt]

This stuff happens when Matt Ryan is your QB

 

[DirtDirtDirt]

Wide Receiver is the most overrated position in football, it is luxury to have a good receiver but not a necessity. Too many selfish guys that could care less about team chemistry only care about their stats. Even team oriented ones never put a team over the top. Randy Moss couldn't even win one in the Patriots dynasty.

Hall of Fame WR with no rings
Larry Fitzgerald
Terrell Owens
Randy Moss
Steve Largent
Lance Alworth
Charlie Joiner
James Lofton
Cris Carter
Calvin Johnson

Eh, I think WR's being overrated, is an overrated theory

Many of the great ones you mentioned, Fitz/Owens/Moss/Julio, many others, have played in the Super Bowl, and it had a lot to do with their greatness.....Pittsburgh is a SB threat every season mostly, and it sure as shit has a lot more to do with AB than it does that dreadful defense

Not saying you cant win with a solid corps, like the Eagles did, but having a great one sure doesnt hurt

 

[Battlelyon]

Eh, I think WR's being overrated, is an overrated theory

Many of the great ones you mentioned, Fitz/Owens/Moss/Julio, many others, have played in the Super Bowl, and it had a lot to do with their greatness.....Pittsburgh is a SB threat every season mostly, and it sure as shit has a lot more to do with AB than it does that dreadful defense

Not saying you cant win with a solid corps, like the Eagles did, but having a great one sure doesnt hurt

We both agree that it doesn't hurt to have a great receiver, but you can win without one. The Patriots showed that with their 5 titles, the 2000 Ravens, 1985 Bears, etc.

Fitz made it when Warner came aboard, not close before, no close after he retired.
Owens almost willed the Eagles to a trophy, he deserves his due.
Moss was on a dynasty and they don't win it.
Julio deserves some credit

The Browns being the Browns are the only team that traded an elite WR that put a team over the top and won back to back Super Bowls, Paul Warfield was the difference maker.

 

[DirtDirtDirt]

We both agree that it doesn't hurt to have a great receiver, but you can win without one. The Patriots showed that with their 5 titles, the 2000 Ravens, 1985 Bears, etc.

Fitz made it when Warner came aboard, not close before, no close after he retired.
Owens almost willed the Eagles to a trophy, he deserves his due.
Moss was on a dynasty and they don't win it.
Julio deserves some credit

The Browns being the Browns are the only team that traded an elite WR that put a team over the top and won back to back Super Bowls, Paul Warfield was the difference maker.

Pats will always be the outlier because it's a unique system where great wideouts are actually less effective in that offense than quick white slot receivers

Other than the amazing Moss, wideouts have gone to NE to die

 

[rmilia1]

So nothing in real life actually happened.

Ok.

Yep lol. Weird story from the jump in that JJ is pretty drama free so this would have been a total departure from the norm. As it turns out it was nada

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I think you need solid receivers to win in the current game, but as the Pats have shown, the notion that you need a "#1 wr" who is dominant is less important than having several good receivers and being able to spread the ball around well. Randy Moss has no rings. TO has no rings. Calvin Johnson has no rings. That shows you the trend right there.

Everyone uses these names to prove their point I guess, but when you really break down these team

DET rarely ever even made the playoffs during Johnson's career, so clearly they needed more firepower. Philly had a great run, and TO was a workhorse for them, but when you have the team leader, literally throwing up in a huddle in a playoff game, whattaya do? Moss...no this fault the Viking DEF couldn't hold a 10 pt 4Q lead at home...and of course the NYG DL made mincemeat of the Pats OL to squash his last chance.

I agree you don't need an elite WR to win a title, but I'm not getting rid of my elite WR just because. Now, if somebody want to give me a nice sum in return for OBJ or Julio, etc....I'm listening.

 

[Iggloo]

Good post. I think that's all fair, especially the part about McNabb choking. Truth is, TO made a huge difference for the Eagles that season, and if he had not gotten hurt on a horse-collar tackle at the end of the season, he might have made the difference, even with McNabb. He miraculously came back for the Super Bowl but was not 100%.