Julio vs. A.J. Green

I will start by saying that I really don’t see a difference in performance between the two. Green had better overall numbers, but as pointed out here, he did have an offense with a better quarterback and more passing. There are a few points of contention that I would like to bring up, however. Please keep in mind, I am neither disagreeing with the points made, nor am I knocking Julio Jones, I simply think that to every to, there is a fro.

You start off with this:

The reason that Jones seems like a more natural selection for the award is because he was a much larger portion of his team’s passing game.

followed later with this:

Green and Jones both led their teams in receiving yards and Touchdowns, but Massaquoi had more [receptions] than Green, the same number of touchdowns, and was within 50 yards of Green’s receiving yards.
Julio, on the other had, was the statistical leader in every receiving category, having almost double the number of receptions, and almost three times the number of yards, as the #2 receiver.

In my opinion, this argument is giving reasons for Julio Jones being the most valuable wide receiver to his team, as opposed to the freshman of the year. If we are comparing who had a higher percentage of the offense, then the numbers you list certainly show the results. However, it should also be pointed out (and is, indirectly) that A.J. Green amassed these numbers AS the number two receiver. I will touch more on this shortly. Also, we are not comparing the player that was most valuable to their offense, we are discussing the freshman of the year honors. To prove this point, let’s compare Julio Jones with Georgia Tech’s number one receiver, Demaryius Thomas. Thomas works in an offense that, like Alabama’s, is focused on the run, although with even less of a passing attack than Alabama. Of Tech’s 1140 passing yards, Thomas accounts for 595 (52 percent). Of Tech’s 66 completions, 36 (54 percent) went to Thomas. Of Tech’s five passing touchdowns, three (60 percent) were to Thomas. Does this make Demaryius Thomas a more valuable receiver to his team than Julio Jones was to Alabama? Based on the numbers, yes. Does it make Thomas a better receiver than Jones? Certainly not.

Moving right along, we get to this point:

Every team that lined up against Georgia had to make a decision: which of those two outstanding receivers were they going to put their best corner on?
For Alabama, that was never even a consideration. Jones had to line up against the best defensive back — sometimes the best two or three DBs — on the field every snap. He was the Tide’s only consistently dangerous receiver and nobody could stop him (emphasis added).

Now, it is pointed out that Green was the number two receiver to Massaquoi, whereas Jones was the number one, therefore Green drew lesser coverage. However, it would be erroneous to say that Green drew lesser coverage every time, or that he never received double or triple coverage. In fact, when Green caught the game winners against Kentucky and Auburn, there were atleast three players surrounding him in Kentucky, and he was in double bracket coverage against Auburn, but I digress.

My point boils down to this: you have to include the pros and the cons of the points you are making (the to and fro). Did Julio Jones account for more of Alabama’s offense than A.J. Green did of Georgia’s? Yes. Was Julio Jones a number one receiver who received the majority of attention on defense whereas A.J. Green had Mohamed Massaquoi to help distract the defense? Yes. At the same time, was Julio Jones a number one receiver and A.J. Green a number two? Yes. Did A.J. Green lose production numbers due to having another marquee receiver (this same distraction) on the field with him, something that Julio Jones did not have to deal with? Yes.

Lastly, I’ll say that I am a Georgia fan, though I have tried to give points that keep this argument intellectual as opposed to partisan. Certainly, I would rather have A.J. Green be considered freshman of the year, but I am biased. What there is no debate about, however, is that the AP Voters need to screw their heads on straight. If they legitimately think A.J. Green is an All-SEC first string WR and Julio Jones second string, A.J. Green should be Freshman of the Year. If they legitimately think that Julio Jones is Freshman of the Year over A.J. Green, then Julio Jones should be listed on the first string roster and A.J. Green should be on the second string. That much, in my mind, is certain.