The 2020 NFL Draft was stuffed with expertise at a number of positions, together with broad receiver. Gamers like Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, and Brandon Aiyuk all got here off the board within the first spherical, with Tee Higgins becoming a member of them early within the second.
However the second broad receiver picked that yr, coming off the board forward of these 4 gamers? Jerry Jeudy, who was picked at No. 15 by the Denver Broncos.
In some ways, the 2020 WR class was a “seller’s selection” proposition, given the expertise stage in that group. Denver choosing Jeudy forward of these gamers was a defendable proposition, given what the broad receiver completed in school. At Alabama Jeudy put up monster numbers and racked up award after award, incomes First-Staff All-American honors as a sophomore — in addition to successful the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the highest WR within the nation — and he might need topped the numbers he posted as a sophomore throughout his junior season, have been it not for a season-ending damage suffered by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
However his time in Denver by no means matched the promise he confirmed at Alabama. Whereas Jeudy handled a number of accidents throughout his time with the Broncos, he by no means eclipsed the 1,000-yard receiving mark in any of his 4 seasons with the group and caught simply 11 landing passes.
Denver traded him to the Cleveland Browns for a pair of late-round draft picks this previous spring.
However Jeudy was again within the Mile Excessive Metropolis on Monday evening, marking his first recreation in opposition to his former group, and he completely went off. Jeudy hauled in 9 catches for a career-high 235 yards and a landing in opposition to the Broncos, and whereas Cleveland got here up brief on the scoreboard, the WR made some NFL historical past within the course of.
His 235 receiving yards have been essentially the most by a participant in a recreation in opposition to their former group, breaking the file set by Terrell Owens again in 2008 when he caught 7 passes for 213 yards for the Dallas Cowboys in opposition to his first NFL group, the San Francisco 49ers.
Jeudy appeared primed for a giant evening from Cleveland’s very first offensive play, as he turned a dig route over the center right into a 44-yard achieve, with 30 of these yards coming after the reception:
The broad receiver was instrumental on a Browns’ landing drive earlier than halftime, making a pair of massive receptions as Cleveland marched down the sector. The primary got here on this dig route with Jeudy working from the best aspect of the sector:
The second got here on this out-breaking route, with Jeudy making a troublesome sliding catch as defenders closed in on him:
With the Broncos crowd booing him with each goal, and each reception, Jeudy saved racking up the catches and the yardage. Then got here his huge play within the second half, this 70-yard landing that noticed Jeudy get behind the protection, then savor each second as he fell backward into the tip zone in celebration:
Whereas the Browns in the end fell brief, Jeudy’s profession recreation coming on the expense of his former group was one thing the receiver loved, even when he needed a distinct final result.
“Excessive feelings,” Jeudy mentioned. “Like I mentioned earlier than, you all the time need to beat the group that you just used to play for, however we got here up brief. We’ve to discover a technique to end, discover a technique to win.”
In his full post-game feedback, Jeudy acknowledged that there have been a “lot of boos” coming his approach Monday evening. However as he identified, there have been “a number of catches too:”
This season Jeudy and Ja’Marr Chase are the one gamers with a number of 70-plus-yard receiving touchdowns on the yr, and they’re additionally the one gamers with 200-plus receiving yards in a recreation this yr. Jeudy additionally turned the fifth Cleveland participant with 200-plus receiving yards in a single recreation in franchise historical past.