Predicting who will lead Denver Broncos in receiving yards in 2022

The Denver Broncos’ passing attack should be much improved in 2022. Who then will lead the team in receiving yards?  I don’t think this question is as easy as predicting Courtland Sutton, simply because he’s the team’s most talented receiver.  Tim Patrick is going to be out for the 2022 season after tearing his ACL, so that puts more pressure on Sutton and Jerry Jeudy to perform.

Even with Patrick in the mix, I do not think he would have had a chance to lead the Broncos in receiving yards.  He’s more of a third down and red zone threat than an every down possession threat.  Patrick is still superbly talented and should return to his old form in 2023.

Could anyone but Courtland Sutton or Jerry Jeudy lead the Broncos in receiving in 2022?

As for the tight ends, I don’t anticipate Albert Okwuegbunam or Greg Dulcich being able to lead the Broncos in receiving.  I do think they can form a nice one-two punch, but they’re both young and haven’t hit their strides yet, so I think they’re a year or two away from becoming who they truly can be.

The only two players that I think have a realistic shot at leading the team in receiving yards are Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy.  Sutton had a 1,100-yard 2019 season, primarily catching passes from Drew Lock, Brandon Allen, and Joe Flacco.  It was a masterful performance that led to him earning his first Pro Bowl nod.

Jerry Jeudy had a nice rookie season with about 850 receiving yards.  He was catching passes from the 2020 version of Drew Lock, which wasn’t good.  Jeudy’s rookie season was promising, and I think his alleged drop issue was and is overblown.

Now that Sutton and Jeudy are both healthy and playing together with a legitimate quarterback, 1,000-yard seasons from each of them aren’t going to be that farfetched of a thought.  Nathaniel Hackett is bringing an offense over from Green Bay that saw Davante Adams have career seasons.  He was clearly the top target for the team, and he simply racked up a ton of catches, yards, and touchdowns.

With that said, Jerry Jeudy is nowhere near the player that Adams is, but he shares a very similar skillset to Adams, and many are expecting Jeudy to have that type of role in this offense.  Jeudy is easily able to separate from receivers.  He’s also a phenomenal athlete who has quick feet and great speed.

Given Jeudy’s skillset, it would be smart to get him the ball closer to the line of scrimmage than they would to Sutton.  Allowing Jeudy to rack up the YAC (yards after catch) given his skillset would allow him to sort of grasp onto that Davante Adams role that Hackett oversaw in Green Bay.  Jeudy is also someone who could do some damage out of the backfield as well.

Opposing defenses will likely use their top cornerback on Courtland Sutton, so I think Jeudy has the ability to take advantage of a team’s CB2 to do some damage.  I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Jerry Jeudy will lead the Broncos in receiving yards in 2022.  I think he’s now in a perfect situation with an elite quarterback and an offensive-minded coach who likely knows how to use him.