Quote:There's another viewpoint to that trade too. Yes, they went up and traded a boat load of picks. But one of the criticism isn't just because they traded up for Julio...but they traded it despite Julio's position. The common belief is unless you are getting a once in a generation player, that you typically don't spend that much on a wide receiver. Taking Jones also caused them to pass on two elite pass rushers: JJ Watt and Aldon Smith. 

 

Pass rush is also a big need for the Falcons, which opted to sign expensive veteran pass rushers through Free agency to fill the void. To this date, they are still looking for that stud pass rusher.

 

The common belief is if you are spending that kind of trade chip, that you better be getting a franchise QB or DE. The Falcons got neither. Julio is good, and he has made that team explosive. But if their FO is that good as we are led to believe, then the better decision would have been to take Watt or Smith with the trade up, and invest in a WR in the later rounds...where quite a few successful WRs are being found.

Very good argument, but all things considered, I'm still not sure I fault the Falcons.  They already had their young franchise QB.   They made a move to provide their young franchise signal callers as many weapons as possible, and they succeeded with Juliio Jones.  They saw a guy they liked, traded up to get him, and hit on the pick.

 

Yes, you could argue they missed out on two pass rushers, but you could argue neither guy fit their scheme (though I wouldn't necessarily be persuaded by that as I think either could play well in a 4-3).  Besides, at the end of the day, Atlanta did what many wildly successful teams did-surround their young QB with some explosive playmakers.

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