Atlanta sports fans have seen their stars come and go. John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, and Greg Maddoux didn’t play with the Braves their entire careers. The Hawks have seen Dominique Wilkins, Joe Johnson, AL Horford, and Josh Smith all end up with other teams. Heck, even in their early five years of existence Atlanta United have seen Miguel Almiron, Héctor Villalba, and Leandro González Pírez all end up elsewhere after helping the club win MLS Cup in 2018. Oh, and we all know what happened with Deion Sanders. Now Atlanta is in a position again where they could lose as many as two stars in a span of months, those stars being Julio Jones and John Collins, but earlier this afternoon explained why if Atlanta could only keep one it’s an easy decision to make.
Julio Jones has been the epitome of what any franchise, not just football, but any franchise would want in their star player. Julio has never caused any distractions, been in any negative news, or even slipped up in a press conference. Julio Jones has been the ultimate professional, and the Falcons are lucky to have him. Also, you can’t forget to mention the work Julio has done on the field, franchise record in receptions, one-hundred yard games, and oh yea that one time he had a three-hundred yard game that was a record too. Julio has NFL records too though, as he is the fastest player in NFL history to reach twelve thousand career receiving yards, and yea there’s more but you get it Julio is and has been the full package since he was drafted by the Falcons. Now, while John Collins isn’t as accomplished for the Hawks as Julio is the Falcons John seems like he is well on his way.
John Collins made the NBA’s All-Rookie second team in his freshman campaign. Collins also averaged that signature twenty points and ten rebounds number that coaches, general managers, and owners look for when trying to find their franchise big man, and not only that, but John did it in a season where he was suspended twenty five games, and on top of that he did it efficiently shooting forty percent from three, fifty-eight percent from the field, and eighty percent from the free throw line. Jumping ahead to this season, Collins’ numbers have slightly dropped, but with the additions of Clint Capela and more scorers that is to be expected, but even still in just his fourth season John averaged seventeen points, seven rebounds, Collins shot fifty-five percent from the field, and literally a tick under forty percent from three at .399 percent. Also, John increased his free throw percentage to eighty-three percent this season. Oh, and let’s not forget John Collins has done all that before his twenty-fourth birthday. Now, is it probably true to this day that Julio Jones is currently better at his current occupation than John Collins, yes, but will that hold true in a season or two from now? The unsureness of Julio’s durability, health, and amount of productive seasons left is the exact reason why John Collins is the easy choice to keep in Atlanta.
Nick Kayal said it best himself on topic stating “It’s just a difference in where both guys are at in their respective careers age wise, and then also where their franchises are at.” Now, Nick does admit that John will probably never reach the status and achieve the things in the NBA that Julio has accomplished in the NFL by saying “It goes without saying that John Collins is not and probably will never be in the same conversation for his craft as Julio Jones is with his.” However, Nick does follow that up by saying “I think if you say the answer is Julio Jones, you’re looking at it very short sighted.” Nick also says “If you told me right now I can only keep one in the city of Atlanta starting this fall, I think I have to go John Collins.” A lot of people believe John Collins isn’t worth a max contract, but Nick says “I don’t think John Collins max contract is a cringe worthy statement.” Now, even if you disagree with Nick he puts it in a perspective you can’t deny basically saying a max deal for Collins is just “the going rate” for a player like Collins. It’s the same thing when Matt Ryan got paid, it’s the going rate, and it’s why Dak turned down thirty-three million dollars from the Cowboys for more money because he wants the going rate. I think all Atlanta sports fans can agree when I say the Hawks don’t want to end up like the Cowboys without Dak. On the other hand, Julio only played in nine games last year, and the Falcons offense seemed like they could survive long term without him with Calvin Ridley as the number one receiver, and don’t forget Kyle Pitts is in town now too. Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot don’t want to financially handicap this team any longer, and if that’s the case Julio Jones might have to be traded.
Now, While all of Atlanta sports fans, including myself, would still love to see both Collins and Jones suiting up for the respective Hawks and Falcons this fall it could be very likely you lose both or just keep one, especially since both Collins and Jones had their replacements be drafted this past year in Onyeka Okongwu and Kyle Pitts, and if you we can only keep one in Atlanta, I think Atlanta sports fans should cross their fingers that it is John Collins.
