For months, draft pundits have said that Georgia receiver A.J. Green was the most NFL-ready prospect in this year’s class. Now it appears that he may not even be the first receiver to come off the board next month.
SI.com’s Peter King writes that Alabama wideout Julio Jones has closed the gap between he and Green, who showed up at February’s scouting combine in less than impressive shape. Jones, on the other hand, wowed scouts by running two 40-yard dashes between 4.34 and 4.40 seconds with a slight fracture in his foot. (An injury that shouldn’t slow down his pro career.)
The former Alabama star was easily the most impressive receiver at the combine and may now be viewed as a top-5 pick. In fact, King says that the Bengals (who have the fourth overall selection) have Jones ahead of Green on their preliminary draft board. Teams still consider Green to be the more naturally gifted athlete, but Jones might be the safer prospect because of his work ethic and practice habits. Even Green is on record saying that preparation is one of his weaknesses.
Another attribute that has caught teams’ attention is Jones’ ability to block. The Bengals are re-implementing a run-first offense under new coordinator Jay Gruden (who will be implementing his version of the West Coast Offense) and a receiver like Jones is obviously attractive because he’s not afraid to mix it up a little with DBs.
In my latest mock, I had the Bengals selecting Green at No. 4 and the Browns (another team that will be running a version of the WCO) taking Jones at No. 8. If I were to compile another mock today, I might have the receivers flipped based on King’s report.
