2011 NFL Draft: Julio Jones Will Come off the Board as the 4th Pick to Cincy

Julio Jones has topped AJ Green since the combine. The day of the combine, he became the talk of the town with his freakish athleticism and agility. He first opened a lot of people’s eyes by his amazing 40-time of 4.39, beating out Green who ran a 4.48.

When evaluating both players, you have to go back to tape to figure out who the best is, because speed is just not enough at the next level.

The Bengals have plenty of other needs, such as who their quarterback will be since Carson Palmer would rather retire than play another game for Marvin Lewis and the Cincinnati organization. His words, not mine. But, offense is kind of a big deal in Bengals territory.

The organization has made that pretty apparent by putting Batman and Robin on the field to catch any ball thrown to them. However, with both growing older in age and worth to the organization, the franchise will probably be looking for younger replacements.

Jones is not only incredibly fast, but he is very physical. He does not have issues blocking when necessary or breaking tackles all the way to the end zone. According to Peter King from Sports Illustrated, Jones has already jumped past Green on Cincy’s radar.

Even though he was not able to work out post-combine, he showed people all they wanted to see. He was an extravagant athlete and a powerful football player. Offensive coordinator Jay Gruden will love him in his west coast offense that requires Jones’ abilities as a blocker.

He has been unable to showcase anymore of his on-field talents due to a pin insertion in his foot from a stress fracture that was invisible to anyone watching during the Combine. That might be one of the more impressive aspects of Jones as an individual.

Even with the stress fracture, he was able to perform and excel in all categories of his drills. It was amazing to see how well he could work even with the pain that he may have been experiencing. That tells any team eyeing him that taking a chance on him will in turn allow them to have acquired an athlete with an excellent work ethic and will to win. 

Julio Jones played in a pro-style offense at Alabama and has done what was required of him to make the world believe in him as much as he has believed in himself.