Julio Jones fantasy outlook: Does Eagles move make former All-Pro WR an intriguing option?
Free agent wide receiver Julio Jones is back! The seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver signed a deal today with the Philadelphia Eagles on October 17, 2023.
Jones spent last season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after spending a year with Tennessee in 2021.
Jones will reunite with wide top receiver AJ Brown, who played with Jones in Tennessee. He will also play alongside wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus, who played in Atlanta with Jones from 2019-2020.
The signing comes after the Eagles recently placed wide receiver Quez Watkins on IR. They worked out free agent wide receivers Marquez Callaway and Dezmon Patmon on Monday, but chose to sign the former five-time All-Pro Jones.
With Jones joining the Eagles, is he a good fantasy football option? That is to be determined.
He will have to find a way to sneak in some targets with Brown and DeVonta Smith being the number one and two options in Philly. Hurt' next two favorite targets this season have been tight end Dallas Goedert, who has 26 receptions and running back D'Andre Swift who has 24 receptions.
No other Eagles wide receiver besides Brown and Smith have more than 10 catches. Zaccheaus has a total of four catches and Watkins, before heading to IR had four receptions.
Jones could easily find himself becoming the third option at wide out for Philly. That still might not be good enough to consider him a good fantasy option, given he's getting older and hasn't had a 1,000-plus yard season since 2019.
Julio Jones' stats from his last full season in the NFL
Julio Jones hasn't played a full season since the 2018 NFL season.
During his last full season, while playing for the Atlanta Falcons, Jones led the league in receiving yards (1,667) and yards per game (104.8) while catching 113 passes and scoring eight touchdowns.
Jones has missed games during the 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 seasons.
Last season with the Tennessee Titans, he recorded 24 catches for 299 yards, and two touchdowns in 10 games.
In his career, Jones has recorded 903 receptions for 13,629 yards, and 63 touchdowns. It will be interesting to see how he fares in Philadelphia, especially joining them mid-season.