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It's now been several years since Tom Dimitroff went all-in to secure reliever Julio Jones for the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons were coming off a 13-3 season. Dimitroff clearly believed that a top WR was the missing ingredient to put them over the top, and that Jones was head and shoulders above the rest of the field.
I think time has proven Dimitroff completely right in his assessment of that year's WR talent. Jones is a terrific player, and the next receiver taken was Jonathan Baldwin, who is now out of work. Bullseye.
But -- the Falcons are now heading to their 2nd straight losing season.
It would be a massive stretch to lay all of the team's failures at the feet of the Jones trade. But it does seem to that going all-in on a single player affected the overall depth of talent of the team. The Falcons were targeting an immediate Superbowl with a single arrow. Meanwhile the Patriots, famously, hedge their bets across multiple shots with the target of being competitive every single year.
The Falcons spent their 2011 first, second and fourth round picks and 2012 first and fourth on Julio Jones. Let's take a look at what the Patriots did with their own same picks:
2011 first: Traded to NO for picks which became Shane Vereen and Chandler Jones
2011 second: Traded to HOU for picks which became Stevan Ridley and Marcus Cannon
2011 fourth: Traded with their 3rd to OAK for picks which became Tavon Wilson and Malcolm Williams
2012 first + fourth: These two picks were packaged in a trade up for a pick which became Dont'a Hightower
So that's Julio Jones on one side, and Shane Vereen + Chandler Jones + Stevan Ridley + Marcus Cannon + Dont'a Hightower + 40% (Tavon Wilson and Malcolm Williams) on the other.
You might suggest that those Pats picks were better than average (despite Tavon), but remember that we also gave the Pats less draft ammo to work with than Atlanta, due to lower draft position. You might also claim that Julio Jones is the best player on that whole list, and I wouldn't argue. But I still think an organization is better off with multiple quality players rather than one extra-good player and several glaring weaknesses to exploit.
It looks to me like Dimitroff was right about Jones, but that that the trade was nonetheless a lousy decision. He succeeded in picking a player, but failed in the long-term job of building a team.
I think time has proven Dimitroff completely right in his assessment of that year's WR talent. Jones is a terrific player, and the next receiver taken was Jonathan Baldwin, who is now out of work. Bullseye.
But -- the Falcons are now heading to their 2nd straight losing season.
It would be a massive stretch to lay all of the team's failures at the feet of the Jones trade. But it does seem to that going all-in on a single player affected the overall depth of talent of the team. The Falcons were targeting an immediate Superbowl with a single arrow. Meanwhile the Patriots, famously, hedge their bets across multiple shots with the target of being competitive every single year.
The Falcons spent their 2011 first, second and fourth round picks and 2012 first and fourth on Julio Jones. Let's take a look at what the Patriots did with their own same picks:
2011 first: Traded to NO for picks which became Shane Vereen and Chandler Jones
2011 second: Traded to HOU for picks which became Stevan Ridley and Marcus Cannon
2011 fourth: Traded with their 3rd to OAK for picks which became Tavon Wilson and Malcolm Williams
2012 first + fourth: These two picks were packaged in a trade up for a pick which became Dont'a Hightower
So that's Julio Jones on one side, and Shane Vereen + Chandler Jones + Stevan Ridley + Marcus Cannon + Dont'a Hightower + 40% (Tavon Wilson and Malcolm Williams) on the other.
You might suggest that those Pats picks were better than average (despite Tavon), but remember that we also gave the Pats less draft ammo to work with than Atlanta, due to lower draft position. You might also claim that Julio Jones is the best player on that whole list, and I wouldn't argue. But I still think an organization is better off with multiple quality players rather than one extra-good player and several glaring weaknesses to exploit.
It looks to me like Dimitroff was right about Jones, but that that the trade was nonetheless a lousy decision. He succeeded in picking a player, but failed in the long-term job of building a team.