The Philadelphia Eagles talent group of pass catchers added a future Hall of Fame WR to the roster on Tuesday. What kind of fantasy football impact can we expect Julio Jones to have in this Eagles offense?
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Should Julio Jones Be a Fantasy Waiver Wire Add in Week 7?
The Eagles’ explosive offensive unit just gave quarterback Jalen Hurts another big-name weapon in the passing game by signing Jones near the midway point of the 2023 NFL season.
Seven-time Pro-Bowl WR Julio Jones is signing a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, per sources. Jones will be reunited with his former Titans’ teammate, AJ Brown, who pushed for Tennessee to trade for him from Atlanta.
Along with playing with Brown in Tennessee, Jones… pic.twitter.com/c4HvZEkAwu
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 17, 2023
When you say “Julio Jones” to a football fan, your mind immediately returns to his days as a dominant force in the Atlanta Falcons’ passing attack.
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In his prime, Jones rattled off six straight seasons of 80+ receptions and 1,300+ receiving yards, which is elite by every standard imaginable.
People throw the word ‘unstoppable’ around far too much, but that word certainly applied to Jones during his best days as a member of the Falcons.
I decided to sing his praises over the last couple of sentences so I can pay respect to his greatness, but I’ll provide an objective and honest take on his fantasy value after signing with the Eagles.
If we simply look at his production since leaving the Falcons after the 2020 season, Jones has barely been worth a roster spot for your fantasy football team. Since the start of the 2021 season, Jones has just one 100-yard receiving game and zero games where he has seen 10 or more targets. Over the last two seasons, Jones has finished outside of the top 90 at the WR position in PPR formats.
Translation … we haven’t seen the dominant version of Jones — who would regularly strike fear into the hearts of cornerbacks and defensive coordinators on a weekly basis — in a long time.
Sure, there have been glimpses of his former greatness here and there, but Jones hasn’t been an elite fantasy option at the WR position in years.
This brings us along to what his value is in this Eagles offense.
This pass-catching room is already filled with dynamic playmakers — namely A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert — who all have trouble producing reliable fantasy numbers on a weekly basis because of the sheer number of mouths to feed in this passing attack.
In fact, Jones may not even make the active roster for the team’s Week 7 matchup against the Miami Dolphins.
The #Eagles are actually signing Julio Jones to their practice squad, source said, though expect a quick elevation and/or signing to the 53-man roster when he gets up to speed. Most signings this time of year start on the PS to manage rosters. This is another example.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 17, 2023
This move to sign Jones to the practice squad feels strictly like a depth move by the organization, which means Jones isn’t likely to carry any real fantasy value in the near future unless injuries decimate the Eagles WR room in the near future.
If you want to add Jones to your fantasy football team and stash him away to see if he has any sort of role in this offense over the next few weeks, then feel free to do so.
However, I don’t think Jones is a priority waiver wire player to target this week.