Where do Falcons past and present stand on the all-time NFL receiving leaderboards?

We’re fresh off of looking at where former Falcon running backs (and one quarterback, even) ranked on the all-time NFL rushing leaderboards. The answer is that they were pretty well-placed, but none of them had the longevity to be top ten players all time in terms of production.

As far as receiving threats go, though, the Falcons don’t just have one of those players. They have one who might surpass that player before all is said and done.

As always, we’re going for players who spent more than a couple quick seasons with Atlanta. That crosses out guys i remember fondly like Drew Hill and the immortal Ashley Lelie, but it must be done.

Receptions

#3: Tony Gonzalez, 1,325

#34: Roddy White, 808

#35: Julio Jones, 797

#42: Andre Rison, 743

#51: Terance Mathis, 689

Receiving Yards

#6: Tony Gonzalez, 15,127

#25: Julio Jones, 12,125

#38: Roddy White, 10,863

#46: Andre Rison, 10,205

#71: Terance Mathis, 8,809

Touchdowns

#8: Tony Gonzalez, 111

#18: Andre Rison, 84

#68: Roddy White, 63

#68: Terance Mathis, 63

#96: Julio Jones, 57

Yards Per Reception

#39: Alfred Jenkins, 17.4

Yards Per Game

#1: Julio Jones, 96.2

#56: Roddy White, 63.5

#88: Alfred Jenkins, 57.0

It’s a familiar cast of characters here. Julio is rising up these leaderboards and has a good chance of finishing top 10 in receptions and yardage and #1 for yards per game, though he’ll likely finish only top 25 in touchdowns, and that’s if he picks up the pace a bit. Gonzalez is in the Hall of Fame because he’s one of the most productive receiving threats of all-time, period. Roddy, Rison, and Mathis show up consistently as top 100 guys all-time in these measurements, while Jenkins shows elite efficiency as one of the more underrated threats in team history.

When the dust settles on Julio’s career, the Falcons will likely have had four of the 50 or so best receiving options in NFL history on their team, with Gonzo and Rison gracing us with multi-year stints and Roddy and (hopefully) Julio being Falcons lifers. That’s nothing to sneeze at, and Julio will likely become the latest in what’s become a mini-wave of Atlanta players to make it to Canton, joining Gonzo. At the very least, the team will have two receivers in its Ring of Honor sooner than later.

Fittingly enough for a team named after a bird, this team has had some great passing attacks. We’re fortunate to have Julio now, we’ll be fortunate to have Calvin Ridley in the future, and we were fortunate to have so many greats in the past. Let’s not lose sight of that as we watch Julio chase history.