Julio Jones celebrates a 73-yard TD reception.

The Buccaneers really struck it big with receivers in last year’s draft, selecting Arrelious Benn in the 2nd round and Mike Williams in the 4th round. Williams, ended up leading all rookies in receiving and was arguably the steal of the entire draft. Receiver is not a need for the Buccaneers right now, they have a solid core of players for Josh Freeman to target, and even with Arrelious Benn rehabbing a knee injury and Kellen Winslow owning a second residence on the injury list, I doubt the Bucs look for a receiver until the mid-to-late rounds if at all. That’s not a problem though as this draft is exceptionally deep in regard to receivers and Mark Dominik has more than proven he can find the gems.

Here are the top receivers in the 2011 NFL Draft:

1.) Julio Jones, Alabama- The consensus top choice is AJ Green, and you really can’t go wrong with either, but in my book Jones is the superior receiver. It’s tough to compare these two statistically, Green was better in the same conference when you look at numbers but when you consider the caliber of the teams they played on and the offense each ran, it’s apples and oranges. Here’s why I like Jones, he’s a more complete receiver. He’s a better athlete (better measurables than Green with a stress fracture in his foot), he’s faster, he’s a little bigger and he is just as talented at hauling the ball in. What separates Jones is his experience in a pro-style offense and his willingness to block. Can AJ Green block? Yes, does he always? No. But Julio Jones at Alabama was a beast when it came to downfield blocking. He’s a kid looking to help his team out however he can. He’s willing to play through injuries (including a broken hand in 2010) and he’s got dynamic ability after the catch. The biggest knock on Jones is his route-running, he does tend to rely on athleticism instead of precision at times, but that will come and the rest of his game is NFL-ready. It’s really one and one-a, but Jones edges out Green for his intangibles.

(more…)