NFL fans in the last 10 years have been lucky to witness two elite WRs, Antonio Brown and Julio Jones, putting up jaw-dropping numbers, torching elite defenses, and making spectacular catches—week in and week out. Both WRs are bonafide legends in every NFL fan’s mind’, but the opinions get divided when it comes to the question—who was better? Eagles WR and Super Bowl champ AJ Brown, however, has no confusion in this question. For the Eagles star, Jones is a better player than Brown.
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AJ Brown recently appeared on the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast, where he saw himself get into a friendly disagreement with host, Gillie Da Kid over his decision to rank Jones over Brown as the better receiver.
In Gillie’s eyes, Brown deserves the nod over Jones simply because of his unmatched production between 2013 and 2018. “AB led the league in receptions for six years in a row with like 100 catches per season,” Gillie pointed out.
For context, the former Steelers star had 686 receptions, 9,145 receiving yards, and 67 receiving TDs while being a Pro Bowler in each of those years. As far as production is concerned, Brown was unmatched.
The Eagles star however defended his stance by noting that Jones was no slouch either in that period. “Okay, okay. And in that six-year span, you should look up what Julio was doing too. Both were at the top of the game,” AJ Brown replied.
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As good as Jones was in that period, his counterpart was simply a step above every receiver at that time. But that said, on his day, Jones was nearly unstoppable as his ability to win tussles at the deep and make runs after the catches were next to none. His career numbers paint a similar picture as well with a whopping 903 receptions, 13,629 receiving yards, and 63 receiving TDs.
But Gillie had the final laugh when he brought the ultimate debate-ending argument—Super Bowl rings. As we all know, Antonio Brown won the Super Bowl in 2021, while his counterpart made the grandest stage of all, once but that too in a losing effort against the Patriots where Brady inspired his team to a comeback from 28-3.
So, what’s the final verdict? If production were the metric, then Brown easily overpowers Jones with a better six-year peak. Add to this, his consistency, plus Super Bowl rings and the former Bucs WR makes a strong case for himself.
On the other hand, Julio Jones was the more physically dominant player with a longer prime and the NFL record for most yards per game in history. So, ultimately, there’s no wrong answer to this question. Both are amongst the best WRs to have played the game.
