“Hall of fame quarterback that came to the rescue”: Jerry Jeudy believes Russell Wilson is the key for the Broncos offense to flourish
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Jerry Jeudy is arguably the best route runner amongst all the wideouts from his draft class, however, the talented WR has not lived up to his full potential as of yet. Jeudy recorded a disappointing zero touchdowns last season with the Denver Broncos who averaged a dismal 20 points per game for the fifth straight season due to the lack of a solid QB.
This is not what Jeudy would have had in mind when he got picked by the Broncos in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft. A player out of Alabama, he scored 24 times during his last two seasons in college, so he must really be frustrated to not see the same carry on to his professional career.
“He could help me a lot, he’s a great quarterback”:
Things are about to change for the wideout now, due to the arrival of star QB Russell Wilson. Nobody would benefit greater than Jeudy with the arrival of a solid Super Bowl-winning quarterback.
“There are things you can control and things you can’t control, those first two years are gone now, so I’m just focused on this year,” Jeudy said at the minicamp media conference. He had Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater as his QBs in the first two seasons of his career.
We got to see moments where Jeudy stood out and showed us why he is the best WR from his draft class in the opening game of last season. He had 72 yards on 6 catches and with just under nine minutes left in the third quarter against the Giants, he ended up suffering an ankle injury upon being tackled by James Bradberry.
Jeudy was stretchered off the field and ended up missing the next six games and lost that momentum that he had gained going into the season, he ended up becoming a misfit in that Broncos lineup as the chemistry between him and his QBs never really took off.
With the entry of Wilson, the entire Broncos organization and fanbase have become more optimistic than ever. Russ knows what Jeudy is capable of and during the voluntary minicamp last month, many players saw Wilson and Jeudy’s chemistry take off instantly.
“A guy like Jerry Jeudy, just being around him, we’ve had some amazing discussions and some amazing talks, we’ve put the extra work in,” Russell Wilson said.
“He could help me a lot, he’s a great quarterback, a Hall of Fame quarterback that came to the offense as a leader, he is getting me better as well. He’s going to help me a lot this year… Just the energy. He’s always uplifting guys and always motivating guys to go out there and keep working hard…he’s the guy that comes up and gets your mind right for it,” Jeudy believes.
The Denver Broncos have not been the best spot for wideouts, they have had a turnstile at the QB position and four different offensive coordinators over the last five seasons.
During this time, the Denver Broncos have had only one talented WR, Courtland Sutton who finished with 1,000 yards in 2019 along with Tight End Noah Fant who is now a Seahawk. They led the team in terms of receptions in each of the last two years.
Last season, the team’s top three WRs were Sutton, Jeudy, and Tim Patrick. They finished with a combined 7 TDs which is lesser than Cooper Kupp’s individual record of 9 TDs.
At the end of the season, the Denver Broncos GM George Paton, who signed Sutton and Patrick to contract extensions in November, was honest about the improvements that needed to be made across the entire offense. He was clear about the receivers, who said “have to be better and we need to do everything we can to get the best out of them, we all want that, but there’s no question they have to be better.”
Jeudy’s dry season last year was not completely in vain as the wideout showers his elite route-running capabilities that consistently created room for him to work, he did have some drops, but Jeudy was frustrated at times playing in an offense that ended up scoring 13 or lesser points in the five of the team’s last eight games.
Wilson has pushed throughout the team’s early on-field work this year in order to record “game-changing plays” in the passing game.
“I call them gap plays, It’s three or four plays, or maybe just one or two that change the game and the situational awareness of that. Where did the game shift? Where did the game change? That was a big part of it for me. What have been the strengths and what are maybe the areas of improvement?”
The hype for the Denver Broncos this season is at an all-time high, probably the highest since the Peyton Manning era. Let’s see how the team fares this season.
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Sumedh Joshi
(2278 Articles Published)