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Fantasy football: 5 players you should avoid on draft day in 2018

By Aaron Tan

CHARLOTTE, NC - NOVEMBER 13: Christian McCaffrey #22 of the Carolina Panthers runs the ball against the Miami Dolphins in the first quarter during their game at Bank of America Stadium on November 13, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - NOVEMBER 13: Christian McCaffrey #22 of the Carolina Panthers runs the ball against the Miami Dolphins in the first quarter during their game at Bank of America Stadium on November 13, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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ATLANTA, GA – OCTOBER 12: Kyle Fuller #23 of the Chicago Bears knocks the ball away from Julio Jones #11 of the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome on October 12, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA – OCTOBER 12: Kyle Fuller #23 of the Chicago Bears knocks the ball away from Julio Jones #11 of the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome on October 12, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /

No. 5: Wide Receiver Julio Jones

I am not doubting Julio Jones’ talent as a wide receiver at all — I actually think that he is a top-five receiver in the league. However, there are just way too many red flags around Jones’ fantasy situation.

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Jameson Williams' fantasy value is teetering on the edge of going in the tank /

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    • Most importantly, the Falcons’ offensive coordinator is Steve Sarkisian, who managed to take the 2016 record-breaking Atlanta offense (that was led by current 49ers‘ head coach Kyle Shanahan) and turn it into the team’s weakness. The Falcons defense was unquestionably better than its offense in 2017, and Jones’ statistics suffered as a result of Sarkisian’s poor play calling.

    By looking at his season stats, you could say that Jones is one of the most consistent fantasy receivers out there, but the truth is that he is far more boom-or-bust than a safe option. In 2017, under Sarkisian at offensive coordinator, Jones averaged 10.15 fantasy points per game, which is decent, but heavily inflated by a 253-yard and two-touchdown game in Week 12 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

    He only scored one other touchdown in the entirety of the 2017 season.

    Most of Jones’ production throughout the season is actually quite pedestrian, but he will go bonkers in very few games that end up accounting for the majority of his season stats.

    Jones is currently being taken in the second round. Do yourself a favor and draft guys like Michael Thomas, Keenan Allen and Mike Evans instead. All of them provide much higher and more reliable floors than Jones.