Atlanta got a little more love on Bleacher Report’s latest city-by-city Mount Rushmore list, and two familiar Falcons faces made the cut.
The list is limited to players from 2000 to the present, which leaves plenty of room for modern stars and explains why some of Atlanta’s older icons were left out. Even so, the city still landed a strong mix of names from across its biggest teams: Freddie Freeman and Chipper Jones from the Braves, plus Matt Ryan and Julio Jones from the Falcons.
Ryan’s case was built on the kind of résumé that made him the face of the franchise for more than a decade. Bleacher Report pointed to the No. 3 overall pick in 2008 as the quarterback who became Atlanta’s franchise answer, piling up 59,735 passing yards and 367 touchdowns over 14 seasons. He also won MVP in 2016 while steering the Falcons to their second-ever Super Bowl appearance, and he posted 10 seasons with at least 4,000 passing yards.
Julio Jones earned his spot for a peak that was as dominant as any receiver in the league. Bleacher Report noted that he led the NFL in receiving yards in 2015 with 1,871 and again in 2018 with 1,677. Over 10 seasons as Ryan’s top target, he finished with 848 receptions, 12,896 yards and 60 touchdowns.
Jones is still keeping his competitive edge alive. Along with owning part of a wiffle ball franchise, he is reportedly training to become a professional bowler.
Ryan, meanwhile, is back with the Falcons in a different role. He was hired in January as the team’s new "President of Football." The exact job description wasn’t immediately clear, but it has since been learned that Ryan has the final say for on-field matters.
Taken together, Ryan and Julio Jones formed one of the NFL’s best quarterback-receiver pairings of the last 20 years. Atlanta may not always get the national spotlight it deserves, but those two have done plenty to give the city a football identity worth remembering.
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