Meet Julio Jones, a 6-foot-4, 222-pound wide receiver for Alabama who can either run over you or run past you, who can block ends and linebackers as easily as he can neutralize a defensive back, and who made an incredible one-handed catch last week that he merely called "in my top five."
So if Penn State doesn't have enough to worry about Saturday night with the Crimson Tide offense, with running back Trent Richardson a more than capable replacement for the injured Mark Ingram, with quarterback Greg McElroy scrambling and passing with equally cool aplomb, now the Nittany Lions encounter a guy with freight train power in a sprinter's body.
Or as Lion junior cornerback D'Anton Lynn says, someone they haven't seen before. "I probably can't compare him to anybody," Lynn said Wednesday. "No receiver we've faced can do as much as he can."
Jones, a junior, is trying to make up for lost time as he points toward helping the No. 1 Tide repeat as national championship, and then likely pursue a career in the NFL.
Jones suffered a bruised knee in the second game of the 2009 season. After sitting out a week, he returned but struggled to reach 100 percent, something that didn't happen until the BCS championship game against Texas.
His final numbers - 43 catches for 596 yards, down from 58 receptions and 924 yards as a freshman - left some critics feeling a bit underwhelmed despite the knee injury and constant double coverage. So he came back with some extra motivation.
"He's got a great mind-set right now; he feels very confident," McElroy said. "I think he's playing with a chip on his shoulder. A lot of people questioned him last season but they didn't realize what he faced."
Asked whether he had a chip on his shoulder, Jones replied, "I just feel a little better this year. I just couldn't come out of my breaks," he said. "I usually can separate from the defender but my game speed wasn't as fast as it usually is."
It seemed quite fast in the second quarter of Saturday's 48-3 win over San Jose State. Split to the left, Jones ran across the middle on a post pattern. The delivery from backup quarterback A.J. McCarron was high, but Jones stretched, leaped, stuck out his left hand and brought the ball in for a touchdown.
"Obviously it was a pretty remarkable play," McElroy said, "but Julio makes plays like that all the time in practice."
For Jones, though, there have been better catches.
"It's up there in my top five," he said. "When I was in high school [in Foley, Ala.], we had like fourth-and-20 and I made a one-handed catch left-handed over my head without looking."
Jones finished with six catches for 93 yards in the opener. And he figures to see a lot of attention Saturday night, particularly if the Lions stack the box and McElroy beats them with play-action.
Penn State coach Joe Paterno said his concern is McElroy escaping the pass rush and finding Jones downfield.
"He's going to be a big problem for us," Paterno said of Jones. "He's very talented. He's not only big and fast, he's got good hands. Sometimes those big guys don't grab passes but he does. He blocks. All their kids block. This is an awfully good team."