Should Fantasy Football Owners Avoid Julio Jones in 2017?

FNTSY’s Corey Parson talks with Dr. Anand Lalaji about the screw Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones had inserted into his foot, and what that means for Jones’ immediate future.

Did he come back too soon from the injury last year?

Did the revision surgery that happened since then fix things?

What about the turf toe injury he suffered?

Can he recover from this enough to have a relatively full 2017 season?

These are all great questions that Fantasy Football owners will have to consider when making out their cheat sheets over the next few months, especially if they have an early draft.

Avoid Julio Jones in 2017?

Should you look elsewhere when your pick comes up in the middle of the first round? Or should you feel safe about taking him as your first pick, considering his 1,400 receiving yards from 2016?

Dr. Lalaji is part of the InsideInjuries.com team, and they do an awesome job of evaluation information released by teams and players, and discussing what that might mean for that player’s immediate future, as well as their long-term prognosis.

If Your Fantasy Football Draft Were Today…

Personally, I’m leaning away from Jones, mostly because of the injury, but also because I can see teams reworking how they defend Matt Ryan and this Falcons offense.

Plus, even with the injury, Jones’ Average Draft Position is going to be too high (he’s currently the seventh overall pick in MyFantasyLeague.com’s 2017 ADP). I also think the team will start relying on their running backs a bit more, considering Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman might be one of the best running back duosos in the NFL right now.

Soon, we’ll be able to do Fantasy Football mock drafts over at FantasyPros.com, and we’ll see what kinds of teams we can end up with if we pass on Jones in the first — as well as which teams we could get if we take him! (Speaking of mock drafts, you should take a look at a few dozen other awesome Fantasy Football tools you can use this offseason.)

With wide receivers like Mike Evans, DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green and Jordy Nelson (assuming both Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham Jr. are gone)  likely still around when you go after Jones, why settle for the injured guy? Or lean toward a running back, like Freeman, DeMarco Murray or Melvin Gordon. But the first round is no place to take a wide receiver coming off foot surgery, even if his name is Julio Jones or Dez Bryant.

Photo Credit: Atlanta_Falcons