Atlanta Falcons are already beginning to miss Julio Jones

Julio Jones and the Atlanta Falcons parted ways this off-season in a trade that saw one of the best players ever to suit up in Atlanta head to Tenessee. Atlanta felt confident in their decision with Calvin Ridley ready to step up and Julio often remaining on the sideline.

So far Jones has played one less game with the Titans than Ridley has with Atlanta and has more yardage on fewer targets. Ridley has 255-receiving yards while Jones has logged 263-yards. What the numbers don’t tell you is the fact Ridley has been targeted far more and dropped the ball in key spots.

This Atlanta offense misses Julio Jones and everything he brought to Atlanta. Perhaps this wouldn’t be the case if Atlanta had opted to replace Jones instead of standing pat and refusing to add to a thin receiving core.

The Atlanta Falcons front office has failed to prepare for life after Julio Jones

The Atlanta front office deserves a lot of blame for just how badly Atlanta needs help at the receiver position. The Falcons front office traded Jones and decided to stand pat and refuse to add depth or attempt to replace Jones by adding depth.

You are not going to replace Julio with a single receiver, however, adding quality receivers and tight-ends Atlanta could have replaced his production easily when you look at the receivers who hit free agency.

Matt Ryan’s leading receivers are Kyle Pitts and Cordarrelle Patterson so far this season. At the receiver position, Ridley is the only player that is currently over 100-yards receiving. This offense badly misses Julio Jones because of the failure of their own front office.

Julio’s time in Atlanta needed to come to an end, the receiver was a large part of the cap problem and unhappy with the Falcons. After a decade of greatness, it was time to let Julio go and replace him with a myriad of moves.  Instead, Atlanta traded Julio and refused to make a move.

Tajae Sharpe, Christian Blake, and Olamide Zaccheaus aren’t receivers who should be starting in this league. All three are depth players who are key in the Atlanta offense due to the Falcons’ inability to foresee the need to replace one of the greatest players with even a middling receiver is concerning.

It points to the greatness of Matt Ryan and the continued unrealistic expectations of a quarterback who too often has had to put this franchise on his back. This time, however, the degree of difficulty has been increased. For the first time in his career, Ryan doesn’t have a number one receiver.  A fact that makes watching Julio suit up with the Titans even more painful for a franchise that wishes Julio was back in Atlanta.