This past offseason, the NFL -- much to the chagrin of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady -- elected to ease some of the restrictions on what numbers players are able to wear based on the position they play.
Perhaps the most notable change has been that you no longer have to be a quarterback, kicker or punter to wear a single-digit number.
It's been relatively easy to get used to some players wearing single-digit numbers. Philadelphia Eagles rookie wide receiver DeVonta Smith wears No. 6, the same number that he donned at Alabama a year ago when he won the Heisman Trophy. Even Leonard Fournette switching from No. 28 to No. 7 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has been pretty simple to process because it's the number that he wore at LSU.
That said, there's quite a few players who are now wearing single-digit numbers, and frankly, it hasn't been aesthetically pleasing:
Julio Jones: No. 2
Julio Jones is in his first season with the Titans.
(Silas Walker/Getty Images)
It's been hard enough to get used to Jones playing for a team other than the Atlanta Falcons, but the future Hall of Famer going from No. 11 to No. 2 in Tennessee has been especially difficult to adjust to. It's even more of a notable switch because Jones wore No. 82 in high school and No. 8 at Alabama. To his credit, Jones had six catches for 128 yards in the Tennessee Titans overtime victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2, so if he continues to perform like that, perhaps him wearing No. 2 won't be so jarring.
Jalen Ramsey: No. 5
Jalen Ramsey has switched numbers in 2021.
(Harry How/Getty Images)
For the first five years of his NFL career -- which were split between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Los Angeles Rams -- Ramsey wore No. 20, establishing himself as one of the most dominant cornerbacks in recent memory. In 2021, the two-time All-Pro has switched to No. 5, even though he wore No. 7 in high school and No. 8 at Florida State.
Darius Slay: No. 2
Darius Slay changed his number in 2021.
(Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Slay wasn't especially associated with a specific number -- he wore No. 30 in his rookie season with the Detroit Lions, before switching to No. 23 for the next six seasons. In 2020, Slay wore No. 24 during his first campaign with the Philadelphia Eagles. The reason him switching to No. 2 has been difficult to adjust to is that quarterback Jalen Hurts (now No. 1) wore the number just a year ago. David Akers, the leading scorer in Eagles history, also wore No. 2.
Emmanuel Sanders: No. 1
Emmanuel Sanders is in his first season with the Bills.
)Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Sanders began his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, while spending parts of the last two years with the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints. Still, we got so used to the two-time Pro Bowler wearing No. 10 for the Denver Broncos. The 34-year-old is now part of a loaded group of pass catchers in Buffalo, which is even harder to adjust to given that he's wearing No. 1 for the Bills.
Robert Woods: No. 2
Robert Woods changed his number in 2021.
(Harry How/Getty Images)
Like his Rams teammate -- the aforementioned Ramsey -- Woods has changed numbers in 2021, and it hasn't been easy to get used to. This is despite having worn No. 17 for his first four seasons in Los Angeles, a period in which he caught 322 passes for over 4,000 yards. The fact that he's a returning captain and has changed his number also factors in. To be fair, Woods wore No. 2 at USC, so there may be some Rams fans quite used to seeing him don that number.
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