Falcon Report

In Hindsight, It Was Calvin Johnson or Julio Jones, And The Atlanta Falcons Picked The Wrong Guy

Even though Julio Jones and Calvin Johnson are both NFL wide receivers for the ages, Johnson was the better choice for the Atlanta Falcons. Today's Saving The Falcons video tells you why.

Terence Moore

Julio Jones or Calvin Johnson?

Calvin Johnson or Julio Jones?

In so many ways, they're the same future Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver, but you know what?

When it comes to the Atlanta Falcons, I'm going with Johnson over Jones, and I hear what you're saying . . . 

Didn't Johnson retire five NFL seasons ago from the Detroit Lions, and isn't Jones still going to Pro Bowls for the Falcons, with no end in sight?

Yep, but here's the rest of the story.

Five months before the 2007 NFL Draft, I wrote a column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution urging the Falcons to pull a Michael Vick . . . you know, trade draft picks to jump from No. 10 overall to No. 1 or No. 2 to snatch Johnson, the hometown boy in his final season as a college megastar in Atlanta at Georgia Tech.

It was a no-brainer.

Well, so I thought, especially since the Falcons had 11 picks, tied for the most of any team for that particular draft.

The Falcons did trade up. 

(Imagine me shaking my head).

In a deal that sent Falcons backup Matt Schaub to the Houston Texans, the two teams swapped first-round picks to put the Falcons at No. 8, where they drafted Jamaal Anderson, the noted bust of a defensive end.

The Lions made Johnson the No. 2 pick overall, and he spent nine years sprinting toward Canton before he retired after the 2015 season at 30. He likely had five, seven, who knows how many years left to shine at a high level?

He just didn't want to play for the Lions anymore.

If the Falcons did what they should have done in that 2007 draft, Johnson still would be happy and vibrant as an NFL stud in Atlanta while heading into this season at 35.

Which means the Falcons wouldn't have completed one of the worst trades in NFL history by sending five draft picks to the Cleveland Browns for the sixth pick overall in the 2011 NFL Draft to grab Jones.

Which means 28-3 wouldn't have happened . . . maybe.

I'll explain in this version of Saving The Falcons.

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Terence Moore
TERENCE MOORE

I started as a professional sports journalist in 1978 at the Cincinnati Enquirer after I graduated from Miami (Ohio) University, and I’ve been doing the same thing ever since. I also appear on national television, and I’m part of a weekly TV show in Atlanta. I’ve done everything from ESPN to MSNBC to The Oprah Winfrey Show. As for writing, I’ve gone from working for major newspapers in San Francisco and Atlanta to operating as a national columnist at AOL Sports, MLB.com, Sports On Earth.com and CNN.Com. I’ve covered a slew of sporting events. I’ve done 30 Super Bowls, numerous World Series and NBA Finals games, Final Fours, several Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500 and other auto races, major prize fights and golf tournaments, college football bowl games and more. I’ve also won national, state and local awards along the way.

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