Julio Jones becomes fastest ever to 10,000 career yards
Julio Jones is doing his best to establish himself as one of the greatest receivers in NFL history, and Sunday against Cleveland, he added another exhibit to his case. He reached 10,000 career yards faster than any other receiver in NFL history.
Needing just 13 yards to get to 10,000 yards in his career, Jones caught a 30-yard pass from Matt Ryan midway through the second quarter to get up and over the mark. As an added benefit, he scored a touchdown on the same drive several plays later, although the Falcons would eventually lose, 28-16.
After spending much of the year piling up yards without touchdowns, Jones finally broke through last weekend, and will likely be a key component if the Falcons are to make a run at the playoffs.
Jones hit the mark in his 104th game, blowing Calvin Johnson’s previous best of 115 games out of the water by more than half a season. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Antonio Brown hit the mark in 116 games, as did Torry Holt. Lance Alworth reached the mark in 120 games, and Jerry Rice, the indisputable GOAT, took 121 games to reach 10,000 yards.
Jones entered the day ranked 49th all-time on the NFL’s career yardage list, per Pro Football Reference. With a strong second half to the season, he could end up in the top 40 by the end of 2018.
For purposes of comparison, Johnson finished his career ranked 30th with 11,619 yards. Brown is still active, of course, and ranked 39th coming into Sunday. Holt finished his career ranked 16th, Alworth ranked 43rd, and Jerry Rice ranks No. 1 … and probably always will.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.
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