Atlanta Falcons: Julio Jones MVP of the league?
By Kit Anderson
Julio Jones no doubt is one of the best wide receivers in the league, though one could argue that Antonio Brown was better this past season.
Regardless, he is widely considered one of the best players in the league and one that you could make a solid argument for an MVP award. While I think that quarterbacks will continue dominate that award as they have in years past they may not be who is most indispensable to their teams.
Most Valuable Player awards over the years have become about which quarterback and occasionally running back are piling up the most stats. While this is obviously the correct way to judge success this does not always mean the players is most valuable player in the league.
Take away Cam Newton and you still have a ferocious defense that has proven they can win with Derek Anderson under center. Looking at players success around the league and how important they are to their teams Jones may be more important to the Atlanta Falcons then any other star in the league.
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In years past Julio had the attention slightly taken away from him with the presence of Roddy White. This past season White became nonexistent in the offense and Julio thrived being the sole center of the Falcons offense.
He piled up a career high 1,871 yards receiving he made plays oftentimes under double coverage and carried a weak passing attack. The thing I find most interesting about his season was that he caught only eight touchdown passes leaving him possible room for improvement going into this season.
With that in mind I do believe that a solid argument can be made that Jones is indeed the MVP in the NFL to his team. Without Jones the offense as we have seen in the past becomes anaemic offering very little yardage. The Vikings’ Adrian Peterson or the Rams’ Todd Gurley are the only other two players I believe to be even close to Jones in how much their team needs them not only to produce but to have any shot of winning games both last and this season.
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Whether or not you agree Jones deserves MVP consideration this coming season remains to be seen, but few can argue how important he will be to the Falcons success. Please leave a comment with your thoughts on who the other players are in the league who are just as important as Julio to their teams.