The NFL's Best Receiver: Julio Jones Is Taking His Game to Yet Another Level

ATLANTA — We saw the best wide receiver in football on Monday night. People don't call him anything cute like "Megatron" or "Dez" or "Jordy" or "OBJ."

They call him Julio Jones. And he's now become clearly the best. I'm not even sure it's close any longer. The gap between Jones and other receivers continues to widen. The distance between Jones and the second guy is now an arm's length. And as he continues to grow and dominate, get faster and stronger, that space might soon be solar system-size.

This isn't reactionary. It's not just about how Jones atomized the Philadelphia secondary in Atlanta's 26-24 win. His growth has been exponential for several years now. Against Philadelphia, what I saw different from last year was even further improved route running. That is the equivalent of giving a high-performance car a sleeker frame and more horsepower.

So now a player who was already explosive, already strong, already a solid route runner, is running better routes. This is frightening.

Year	GP	Rec.	Yards	TDs
2011	13	54	959	8
2012	16	79	1,198	10
2013	5	41	580	2
2014	15	104	1,593	6
2015	1	9	141	2

I caught Jones after the game and asked him if he believed he was the best receiver in football. He smiled. "That's not something I think about," he said.

Jones was too smart to bite on that one.

To me, the discussion of the NFL's best receiver comes down to five names: Antonio Brown in Pittsburgh, Dez Bryant in Dallas, Odell Beckham Jr. in New York, Calvin Johnson in Detroit and Jones.

Several sources close to Bryant told me Monday it increasingly looks like he will miss at least six weeks, and possibly closer to eight, after surgery on his broken foot. 

Beckham is brilliant, but that game against the Cowboys was a little worrisome. I know it was only one game, but it could be a sign of what's to come. There's a good chance Beckham sees massive amounts of violence as teams continue to try to physically intimidate him. I see him taking a small step back this season. Not huge. But tiny enough where he can't pass Jones either in skill or production.

I pick Jones over Megatron mainly because of age, and Jones has developed into the total receiver Megatron is.

Brown is the best argument. Like Jones, he can run any type of route and destroy defenses quickly and without mercy. But, to me, Jones is even more explosive—and against Philadelphia, it was noticeable how his running and stride improved. He has the grace of A.J. Green, the power of Megatron and the speed of Beckham.

"He's as good as there is," Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said.

Jones had nine catches for 141 yards and two touchdowns against the revamped Eagles secondary. If the Falcons had kept throwing to him, he could have had a hell of a lot more.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

"He doesn't back down," Atlanta head coach Dan Quinn said. "Any challenge there [is], he's ready to go. It's one of those things that I most respect about his game. He's one of those kinds of competitors that is ready for it every time. He's the guy that wants it thrown to him and wants to take the last shot. I can't say enough about him as a competitor."

You could make the case Quinn wasn't giving Jones enough respect Monday. The team kept taking him out so he could rest, but he never looked tired. Quinn explained it as the team wanting to keep him fresh because it runs such an up-tempo offense.

"We're just going to keep featuring guys," he said.

Well, that just seems damn inefficient. The way Jones was destroying Eagles corner Byron Maxwell, you don't "feature guys." You don't go with Kajagoogoo when you have Michael Jackson. It's possible that if Quinn didn't pump the brakes on Jones, he would have had 18 to 20 catches for more than 200 yards. He was that unstoppable.

And he would've been unstoppable on Monday if the Falcons had been playing the Seahawks or the Patriots or any other good team. It wasn't the Eagles. This was a new Jones, someone who wasn't just relying on his speed, but also grace and precision.

Jones had 97 receiving yards in the first half, and between the Eagles taking steps to shut him down and the Falcons coaches slowing him down, the second half was a little quieter. Then came a 44-yard catch late in the game that set up the winning field goal.

This was Jones' 20th career 100-yard receiving game. That's a pretty impressive number for a guy in just his fifth year. There is more to come. So much more.

What we know now, though, is certain. Jones is the best in football. It's as clear as his talent.

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report.