Jerry Jeudy is starting to gel in the Denver Broncos which is a scary sight for opposing defenses.
The Denver Broncos had a flurry of questions coming into the 2020 offseason about where they would go heading into the NFL Draft.
As the day came closer, a direction seemed clear, but a possible player and position remained uncertain. Once the picks came tumbling to the 15th pick, Denver had the choice of Jerry Jeudy or Ceedee Lamb. There was no wrong decision for the Broncos.
Denver pulled the trigger on Jeudy to wear orange and blue. Jeudy was one of the best all-around prospects to be a part of the draft process. Him falling to Denver would take the pressure off Courtland Sutton.
Unfortunately, the latter resulted in Jeudy taking a much larger role quicker than anticipated. Sutton’s injury was unexpected and has helped Jeudy become more of a focal point in the offense lately.
Long story short — Jeudy is a stud. Jeudy has hardly any flaws in his game. Even before stepping onto a football field, Jeudy was garnering praise for his route running. He is already proving this to be the case putting him in the top five categories of route runners, according to PFF.
The hands certainly are suspect with some drops, but there’s been more consistently lately with him. This is a sign Jeudy is progressing well in his biggest weakness. The other issue is running in one motion with the ball. This falls both on hands and his concentration. Both of these problems are not going to be an issue long-term.
Before Jeudy stepped foot in the NFL, he was asked by pro wide receivers to help their game. Let that sink in just a second. Read it again if you need to. Jeudy is well respected by his peers, enough that they asked him for help. This speaks glowingly about his work ethic and perseverance to be the greatest to ever do it at wide receiver.
Based on where Jeudy is right now in his rookie season, he is making a smooth transition to be a large focal point in the offense going forward. The route running for him has opened up opportunities that unfortunately never materialized early in the season.
Lately, both quarterback Drew Lock and Jeudy seem to be clicking dating back to the Chargers game. In the Falcons game, Jeudy registered his first 100-yard receiving game. This will be only the beginning for him.
With Jeudy’s exceptional route running and propensity to get open a bunch already, there’s a greater chance more targets will follow. We do not know whether Jeudy will be a Michael Thomas kind of receiver, but he is the type of player who can average 10 targets per game if the offense wanted to do so. Right now the offense is still searching for continuity. There are a few players who can jumpstart this offense. Jeudy is front and center of that conversation.
Jeudy’s quick release and route awareness open up free passing lanes for Lock to throw to him. If you’re Pat Shurmur as offensive coordinator, it is imperative to get your quarterback early in games and start fast.
One of the best ways to accomplish this is to feed Jeudy early and often on short slant routes or screens. Get Lock and Jeudy momentum started and watch it steamroll a defense. The first step for Jeudy is a huge weapon, but also his ability to stop and change direction on a dime is special.
It’s like watching a technician go to work. Jeudy is a work of art at wide receiver. For Denver to get their offense working fast in games Jeudy and Lock will need to take center stage.
Lately, the past two games are showing cases Lock and Jeudy are starting to gel. As stated above, Jeudy notched his first 100-yard game against Atlanta. Frankly, Jeudy would have had a lot more if the offense did start earlier. Jeudy would be looking at potentially a 150 to a 170-yard game. He was cooking in the game.
Confidence is at an all-time high for Jeudy right now. He is asserting himself more on the practice field and game-days. This bodes well long-term for being a leader on the team and the chance of that will grow due to this.
In the past two games, Jeudy is demonstrating that he is already on pace to be a top 10 wide receiver in the NFL. Call it a hot take, but Jeudy asserting confidence to already go into veteran tricks as a route runner shows immense growth from week one to week nine.
That is just a mid-season form. It took players like Courtland Sutton and Demaryius Thomas a little longer to be NFL elites. If Jeudy is establishing dominance now, then that bodes well for him at the end of the season.
Jerry Jeudy, Drew Lock, and the rest of the Denver Broncos need to jumper cable the offense. It would be a great start to get Jeudy going in the first half and continue it for the second half. Feed Jerry. He’s still starving for more touches. The Broncos wide receiver is hungry and needs to eat.