Alabama's Top Breakout Candidate Jerry Jeudy: 2022 Bama in the NFL Tracker Week 1
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Week 1 Preview
Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson has been making a point to praise his new teammates for giving extra effort in preparing for the 2022 season.
One of the best examples he's given was that former Alabama wide receiver Jerry Jeudy has been sitting in on quarterback meetings.
“It helps me a lot," Jeudy said back in July per Mile High Huddle. "Just sitting in the quarterback room and understanding their language, understanding their thought process and each play to understand which read they’re looking at first against what coverage. [It] really helps me with my route. So I just wanted to go in there and learn as much as I can. The more I learn, the better I can get. so that’s what I decided to do.”
Jeudy was recently asked about it again as the Broncos get ready to open the season against Wilson's former team, the Seattle Seahawks, on Monday night.
Yes, despite already being known for his route running, he's still going.
In addition to the play-calls, it's helped with the new offensive scheme under coordinator Justin Outten, plus with timing.
“Knowing when to speed things up, knowing when I’m able to slow things down," Jeudy said.
Something else that's been helping Jeudy is lining up opposite a familiar face during practices, former Crimson Tide cornerback Patrick Surtain II.
"Going against him makes me a lot better," he said.
Jeudy is our top candidate for breakout player among former Crimson Tide players this NFL season.
He's working with a better quarterback, a coordinator who has a better sense of how to use him, and deep threat Tim Patrick suffered a torn ACL and is out for the season.
Last season, Jeudy finished with just 38 receptions (on 56 targets) for 467 yards. Not only did he not score a touchdown during the 10 games he played, he wasn't even targeted in the red zone.
“Me just being better than I was last year," said Jeudy, the 15th-overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft. "Making all the plays that come to me, just winning, winning every game and just doing my part.”
Game of the Week
• Patriots at Dolphins: Mac Jones and Tua Tagovailoa are two of the 12 starting quarterbacks in the league who are under the age of 25, along with their former Alabama teammate Jalen Hurts.
The bettors and oddsmakers are buying the Tagovailoa hype. The Dolphins will go into a game against the Patriots as the favorites for the first time since December 2013.
Incidentally, each of the last four Super Bowls have kicked off with a starting quarterback under 26.
Matchup of the Week
Trevon Diggs vs. Mike Evans: The FanNation site Cowboys Country will be looking to make a quick read on whether Diggs' 11-interception season last year, the most by anyone since 1981, was a flash or if he has a chance to do it again.
Last year the Cowboys and Buccaneers also met in Week 1, with the reigning-champions winning 31-29 at home.
Diggs made his first pick of the season during the second quarter.
Evans might have had three catches in the game, but per NextGenStats, Diggs held the receiver to just one catch of 10 yards while covering him on 39 of 47 routes.
Evans went on to have a 1,000 season, but just barely at 1,035, leaving some to wonder if the veteran going into his ninth season might finally miss the milestone for the first time.
Of course, he did have a career-high 14 touchdown receptions with Tom Brady throwing to him.
How to Watch NFL Week 1
Thursday's Game
Buffalo Bills at Los Angeles Rams, 8:20 p.m., NBC
Sunday's Games
New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons, noon, Fox
Cleveland Browns at Carolina Panthers, noon, CBS
San Francisco 49ers at Chicago Bears, noon, Fox
Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals, noon, CBS
Philadelphia Eagles at Detroit Lions, noon, Fox
Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans, noon, CBS
New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins, noon, CBS
Baltimore Ravens at New York Jets, noon, CBS
Jacksonville Jaguars at Washington Commanders, noon, Fox
Kansas City Chiefs at Arizona Cardinals, 3:25 p.m., CBS
Las Vegas Raiders at Los Angeles Chargers, 3:25 p.m., CBS
Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings, 3:25 p.m., Fox
New York Giants at Tennessee Titans, 3:25 p.m., Fox
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Dallas Cowboys, 7:20 p.m., NBC
Monday's Game
Denver Broncos at Seattle Seahawks, 7:15 p.m., ESPN/ABC
Tide-Bits
• Rod Walker of Nola.com was the first to report that New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram II is switching back to the number 22 jersey. The move came days after defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, who had worn number 22, was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles. Ingram was a first-round draft pick of the Saints in 2011. He was first given number 32, but switched to number 28 before the start of his 2011 rookie campaign.
• Linebacker Rashaan Evans will make his Falcons debut. He had 317 tackles, including 15 for a loss during his four seasons with the Titans (2018-21). Other significant debuts include Amari Cooper with the Browns, Julio Jones in Tampa Bay (he leads all active players with 879 receptions 879 and 13,330 receiving yards), and this year's rookie class led by Evan Neal with the New York Giants.
• Jones will wear No. 6 this season. Why? Because “when they throw it to me, it’s six,” he said in a video released by the team.
• Running back Najeh Harris was named one of five team captains for the Steelers, but Minkah Fitzpatrick was not. The others were quarterback Mitch Trubisky, defensive end Cam Heyward, linebacker T.J. Watt and safety Miles Killebrew.
• Vikings tight end Irv Smith Jr. told Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press that he expects to play in Sunday's season opener against the Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium. Smith had surgery to fix a thumb injury a little over a month ago.
• Hurts this week: “I know that there are tons of different things that are said, but I don’t hear them. I don’t listen. I don’t look for it. I just come here. I come to work. I do my job. I strive to grow in doing my job every day. I do me."
• Texans coach Lovie Smith had good things to say about adding tight end O.J. Howard after he was released by the Bills. “You’re always trying to add good players, simple as that,” Smith said per Texans Daily. “O.J. is a good player. He has a lot of talent. He’s excited about being here.” Howard practiced for the first time in a Texans’ uniform Monday morning. "I can do it all," he said.
Did You Notice?
• The final 53-man roster for the New England Patriots included 10 rookies.
• For the first time since 2016, when he was the tight ends coach for the New England Patriots, Brian Daboll won't be calling plays in a game. "Obviously, there are adjustments that need to be made, decisions that have to happen quick when you’re a play-caller," the New York Giants head coach said. "But I certainly have input on all three of those areas.
"You try to do that work before the game the best you can so that the play callers have not a lot of people in their ear; they can get it out quick to the quarterback or to X (Safety Xavier McKinney), and those guys can have as much time as they can to process the call."
• NFL Preseason Power Rankings Poll: Bills on Top Heading Into Week 1
Fantasy Projections and Rankings
In case your draft hasn't happened yet :
Also: Projections and Cheat Sheet
Bama in the NFL
Alabama Crimson Tide Players in the NFL
Tracking Active Alabama Crimson Players in the NFL
Alabama Crimson Tide Players in the NFL: Breakdown by Team
Active Alabama Crimson Tide Players in the NFL by Position
All-Time Alabama Crimson Tide Players in the NFL
All-Time Alabama Crimson Tide Players in the NFL By Team
Former Alabama Crimson Tide Players Selected in the NFL Draft
All-Time Alabama Crimson Tide Players Drafted by Round
NFL Draft: All-Time Alabama Crimson Tide Selections by NFL Teams
Alabama Crimson Tide Players Selected in the NFL Draft by Position
The Bama in the NFL Tracker appears every week, and will be updated throughout each weekend, on BamaCentral.
