Matt Waldman’s RSP NFL Lens examines Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones and his excellence at selling the stem on an out-route.
I wish every athletic college wide receiver could watch this route and absorb why Julio Jones makes it so effective. Jones is one of the elite athletes at his position. He’s bigger, stronger, faster, and leaps higher, than most of his opponents.
Even so, Jones has learned that athletic ability alone doesn’t get the job done in the NFL. Jones has mastered several facets of route running, especially the stem. The stem tells a believable tale of fiction and a good storyteller knows how to get his reader to suspend disbelief.
Jones’ precise detail sways the defender to follow Jones’ story to its climax — even when the defender should know better.
Size, speed, and strength are little more than wood, iron, and glue without an understanding of the details needed to fashion them into a hammer.
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