Julio Jones is 2011's No. 1 receiver
The former Alabama WR is a better all-around threat than A.J. Green
One of the quandaries facing teams looking to take a wide receiver early in the 2011 NFL draft is whether to go after a Randy Moss-like vertical threat or more of an all-around type of wideout in a Reggie Wayne mold.
The Moss types are often valued higher because of their long pass skills, but the master-of-all-trades receivers often are equally if not more valuable.
In 2007, Moss joined a New England Patriots team that had maybe the greatest dink-and-dunk pairing in NFL history in Tom Brady and Wes Welker. That duo's short pass abilities meant Moss could set his focus almost exclusively on running vertical routes. It was the primary reason he had the second-most vertical pass attempts, the seventh-highest vertical pass percentage in the league that season and scored 23 touchdowns.
In that same year, Wayne actually topped Moss in the vertical yards per attempt (YPA) category (14.7 to 11.5), even without a healthy Marvin Harrison in the lineup. He also nearly equaled Moss in vertical receiving yards (1,031 versus 1,124) and beat him in overall yards as well as the short, medium, deep and overall YPA categories.
This should be kept in mind when it comes to comparing the relative skills of A.J. Green and Julio Jones. Both are dominant physical talents, but after doing a review of their 2010 seasons, it is clear that Jones' skill set is much more varied than Green's.
To read more about why Julio Jones is the better overall receiver than A.J. Green, you must be an ESPN Insider.
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The 2011 NFL Draft

Draft Tracker | Kiper Home | Draft Blog
Mel Kiper
- Mock Draft 5.0 (4/27)
- Mock Draft 4.0 (4/6)
- Mock Draft 3.0 (3/9)
- Mock Draft 2.0 (2/16)
- Big Board (4/27)
- Top 5's: 2011 draft | 2012 draft (4/27)
- Best draft fits for Cam Newton (3/8)
- Greatest top 10 NFL draft picks ever (3/4)
- Combine winners and losers (3/2)
- Pre-combine stock watch (2/23)
- Replacing NFL veterans via the draft (2/11)
- Regrading the 2010 draft (1/28)
- Mock Draft 1.0 (1/19)
- How Luck changes draft (1/7)
Todd McShay's projections
- 4/28: Final seven-round mock draft
- 4/20: Mock Draft 6.0: Team scenarios
- 4/13: NFL Scouts' Mock Draft
- 4/6: Mock Draft 5.0: Newton goes No. 1
- 3/16: Mock Draft 4.0: Dareus goes No. 1
- 2/10: Mock Draft 3.0
- 1/19: Mock Draft 2.0
- 11/10: Mock Draft 1.0
Scouts Inc.'s draft coverage
- 3/21: Draft Buzz: McShay's draft tools
- 3/21: Stacking the Board: Offense
- 3/21: Stacking the Board: Defense
- 3/15: Breaking down the talent tiers
- 3/11: Draft Buzz: Pro day notes
- 3/8: Questions remain for Newton, Fairley
- 3/2: CBs, OLB Miller combine winners
- 2/23: Horton: NFC team offseason needs
- 2/22: Horton: AFC team offseason needs
- 2/15: Sneaky depth at RB
- 2/14: Three QBs to watch
- 2/9: Combine snubs
- 2/1: All-star risers and fallers
- Outsiders: Packers run woes done?
- Bowen: How to stop Adrian Peterson
- Schefter: What New York Jets will do at QB
- Kiper: The 5 best offseasons of 2013
- Offseason Grades: AFC | NFC | Kiper on draft

