by George Kerth
Julio Jones has been officially traded to the Tennessee Titans for a 2022 2nd round draft pick and a 2023 4th round draft pick. The big news broke Sunday afternoon and made us think... What impact will this have on fantasy football?
First, let's take a look at the impact on Julio Jones himself. Heading to the Titans should be a good move for him as the team needed WR help after losing Corey Davis and Adam Humphries this offseason. The loss of those WRs opens up 127 targets in that offense from last season that can easily be snatched up by Julio. The Titans also lost TE Jonnu Smith this offseason, which opens up another 65 targets, but a bulk of those will probably go to new starting TE Anthony Firkser. In short, the team needed a reliable outside WR and the opportunities will be there, so I see a big season coming from Julio Jones.
How does this trade impact AJ Brown though? Well, that's where it gets interesting. Brown had high praises from me and the other Couch GMs in our early WR rankings putting him solidly in the top 5 for fantasy WRs. Even with the Julio Jones move, I have no doubt that AJ Brown will still be a top 5 fantasy WR. He has the unique ability to be both the sure-handed WR that QBs trust as well as being a big play waiting to happen. Brown finished as the WR5 in average points per game last season with just 7.5 targets and 5 catches per game. Even with Julio in the building, I see an uptick in targets and catches coming. It is also worth noting that this will give defenses more to think about and he may see less double and triple coverage as a result.
Finally, how does this move impact the Atlanta Falcons' fantasy assets, most importantly, Calvin Ridley and Kyle Pitts?
Pitts has a lot of question marks, but there is no doubt that Julio leaving opens up a bunch of targets that can be eaten up by Pitts. He is still a risk, as we know rookie TEs have traditionally struggled, but I think this move is a positive.
Calvin Ridley though, I see huge things for Ridley. The young stud WR has played 8 games in his career without Julio Jones and turned them into 58 catches, 856 yards, and 3 TDs. If you extend those stats over a 17 game season he would have about 123 catches, 1,819 yards, and 6 TDs. With those stats in 2020, he would have been 2nd in catches and 1st in yards by almost 300 yards. There is no doubt in my mind that Ridley will continue his ascension to becoming a WR1 with Julio out of Atlanta.
One sleeper to watch as training camp and the preseason approaches is Russel Gage. Gage was effective with Julio out of the lineup as he averaged 7 catches for 66 yards and caught 2 TDs in the last 4 games of 2020. His average draft position in redrafts will most likely be on the rise, but if he is available in the late rounds of your drafts, he is definitely worth a late-round flier.
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