Gold Standard: Should the 49ers be in on Julio Jones or Matt Ryan?

In a season filled with frustrations, two of the biggest have come from poor play at the quarterback position and an inability for wide receivers to make plays outside the hash marks down the field.

Fortunately, the 49ers aren’t the only team with problems, which brings us to the Atlanta Falcons. Atlanta appears to have reached a turning point as an organization. They fired the coach and general manager that brought them to a Super Bowl in 2016, and Owner Arthur Blank didn’t exactly embrace the idea of Matt Ryan being a part of the team’s future going forward.

There are even reports from ESPN that both Ryan and Julio Jones could be available before the trade deadline if the financial side of things could get worked out. If either or both were to be put on the market, should the 49ers get involved in that conversation?

Consider: The best season either of those two players has ever had came with Kyle Shanahan pulling the strings. Ryan took home the MVP in 2016 with 38 touchdown passes and nearly 5,000 yards. All Julio Jones did, for his part in 2015, was have the second highest single-season receiving total in the history of professional football.

Yes, both are in their thirties. Yes, the money would have to be worked out – but that’s Paraag Marathe and John Lynch’s problem, not ours. Purely on a hypothetical level, should the 49ers consider something drastic?

That was one of many topics that came up during this week’s Gold Standard Podcast with myself and Levin Black.

“If they don’t look into it, at least, I think they would be doing a disservice to the team. You have to kick the tires, especially on Julio Jones,” Levin said, “He is that deep ball guy. You can just throw a jump ball to him down the field and he’s probably going to win it.”

What do you think? Listen to the episode to hear our full conversation on the idea as well as some other hypothetical situations based on the popular narratives surrounding this year’s team. If you like what you hear, please subscribe to the Niners Nation Podcast Network. We also won’t kick you out of bed for a five star rating and a nice review, either.