National Football League

Green, Jones growing up quick in NFL

Published Oct. 21, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Neither their performances to date, nor their respective projections for the season, are the stuff of record-breaking rookie campaigns. Still, the play of first-year wide receivers A.J. Green of Cincinnati and Atlanta's Julio Jones probably merits more than the modicum of attention each first-rounder has received so far.

The guys are good. And it's more than just their numbers that say so.

"They're two grownup players," assessed Seattle free safety Earl Thomas, part of a Seahawks secondary that was dominated by Jones in an Oct. 2 defeat, and which will face Green on Oct. 30. "They're not like rookies."

Don't try telling that to Green and Jones.

"Those guys covering you," Green said, "they don't care where you're from, what round you were taken in. You're just a number."

Still, through six games, Green, the fourth overall player selected six months ago, leads NFL rookie wide receivers in catches (29), receiving yards (453), and touchdowns by reception (four). The sixth player chosen overall, after the Falcons traded up to grab him, Jones missed last week's game with a hamstring injury. He might not be able to return for Sunday's game at Detroit. In five games, he has registered 25 receptions and 358 yards. Although he has yet to score his first NFL touchdown, he's made a difference in the potential of the Atlanta passing game.

His statistics include 11 receptions for 127 yards against the Seahawks, a game in which Jones was targeted on 17 of Matt Ryan's 42 attempts.

If the numbers the pair have posted might seem modest to some observers, consider that wide receivers, particularly those chosen in the first round, historically have had a difficult time making the transition to the pro game.

"Guys just don't jump right into the league and make a big splash," acknowledged Falcons wide receiver Roddy White, who led the NFL in receptions a year ago (115), and who has four straight 1,000-yard campaigns and a 93.8-catch average in the previous four seasons, but who rung up only 29 receptions as a first-round rookie in 2005. "You spend a lot of time trying to stay above water."

In truth, things generally go swimmingly for first-round receivers once they get past the one-year apprenticeship. But the maiden voyage is usually a trying one.

Said eighth-year veteran Michael Clayton of the New York Giants, who had 80 catches for 1,193 yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie first-rounder with Tampa Bay in 2004: "Forget what people tell you. It's hard, man, even for a first-round guy. The game anymore is so much more than just catching footballs. It takes a while to get used to all the stuff."

Which makes the early-season accomplishments of Green and Jones perhaps even all the more admirable.

Both rookies are on pace to have more than 70 receptions and 1,000 yards, and that would be a rarity.

Jones recently suggested that the "(sophistication) of the passing games in college now" makes a difference. But neither Jones nor Green, at Alabama and Georgia, respectively, played in wide-open, spread offenses that regularly featured three receivers. Their college teams weren't famous for throwing the ball all over the field. There's no doubt, though, both are prospering at the NFL level.

"Everything is harder," Green said. "I mean, you don't get any free releases, the corners are always trying to get their hands on you, it's a fight all the way. Maybe the easiest part is catching the football. Getting to where you can catch it . . . that's hard. You have to learn the ropes."

And that makes it hard to put up big numbers.

Last season's top rookie receiver, Tampa Bay's Mike Williams, was a fourth-round pick. In 2009, fourth-rounder Austin Collie on Indianapolis tied for the NFL lead in receptions by a rookie. Eddie Royal of Denver, a second-round pick, was the rookie receptions leader in '08. New Orleans' Marques Colton led the league in both catches and receiving yards in 2006, and he was a seventh-round pick.

But teams keep taking wide receivers in the first round, projecting them as impact players.

"Even with the bad (first-year) numbers," said one longtime NFC wide receivers coach, "it's still treated like a premium position, I guess."

Of the 76 wide receivers chosen in the first round 1990-2010, just 10 finished their rookie seasons with 60 or more catches. Only 17 had at least 750 yards, and 14 had more than five touchdowns.

The Colts' Reggie Wayne, a 2001 first-round choice who has been to five Pro Bowl games, and whose resume includes seven 1,000-yard seasons and three years with 100 or more catches, had only 27 catches and no touchdowns as a rookie.

"It's a culture shock," the Indianapolis WR said. "You come in thinking, 'OK, how tough can it be?' And halfway through your rookie season, it's more like, 'When is this going to get any easier, man?' It takes a while."

Apparently, not for Jones and Green.