Jerry Jeudy Teases Plan to Translate His Momentum Into 2023

Over the final six games of the 2022 season, Denver Broncos wide receiver Jerry Jeudy totaled 37 receptions for 523 yards and three touchdowns. Extrapolated over an entire 17-game season, that put him on a tear for 104 receptions, 1,481 yards, and nine touchdowns.

Of course, that's not how it works in the real world. Extrapolation avails a player not at all, but it's that level of production that Jeudy plans to carry forward into his first season with Sean Payton calling plays as head coach.

“I want to start off the season just how I finished it," Jeudy said on Tuesday following Denver's minicamp practice session.

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After a modestly impressive rookie campaign, Jeudy's second year was marred by injury. He failed to find the end zone in Year 2.

Jeudy's third year started out on a similar footing, as Russell Wilson seemingly force-fed targets to Courtland Sutton. However, by midseason, Wilson's attention as a passer began to focus more on Jeudy, and by season's end, he had become the Broncos' de facto No. 1 wideout.

How did it happen? Jeudy is a supremely confident young player, but he chose to spread the credit around the Broncos' offense for his late-season success.

“I feel I was getting put in good positions. Everything was just being executed right," Jeudy said of the final six games. "Everybody was doing their job at the time. When it comes to football, there’s a lot of things that the fans and other people don’t see, like the line blocking or the quarterback making a different read, and I feel like everything was just in sync. And that’s what caused the success the last couple of games.”

While Jeudy had some impressive displays in Weeks 14 and 15, it was his performance in that miserable Christmas Day game at the Los Angeles Rams, where the Broncos got sent home with a 51-14 loss like a lump of coal, that he really separated from the pack with six receptions for 117 yards. He was one of few 'dawgs' in Orange and Blue who battled.

Then-head coach Nathaniel Hackett was subsequently fired following Denver's embarrassing loss. From there, Jerry Rosburg was named interim head coach, and he did what any sensible leader would do, making the actual offensive coordinator — Justin Outten — responsible for play-calling.

The results were palpable. While the Broncos would fall at Arrowhead to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 17 by a three-point margin, the playoff-bound Los Angeles Chargers were vanquished in the season finale. Jeudy caught five passes for 154 yards and three touchdowns vs. L.A.

So, Jeudy is not wrong by crediting the offense in general for his uptick in production. Especially over those final two games, things actually came together. Not only did Wilson finally look like the player he was in Seattle for a decade, but multiple players, like Jeudy, were able to shine and prove how their talent had been squandered by Hackett's incompetence.

Now imagine what an offensive savant, who's been to the top of the NFL mountain, like Payton, will be able to achieve with these weapons of football war. It's going to be a gas. Talent won't languish; it'll flourish.

“He’s explosive," Payton said of Jeudy last week. "There’re the nuances of the game, relative to landmarks, and the exactness of the passing game. All of those things, he’s been really eager to learn. I enjoy working with him. I told him, ‘Hey, I’m going to be on you and we’re going to get the most out of you.’ He’s continued to get stronger... He’s someone that certainly will be a big part of what we do.”

The Broncos rewarded Jeudy's late-season display by picking up the fifth-year option on his contract, which comes with a precipitous raise in 2024. He will earn nearly five times what he will this season, going from a $2.68 million base salary in 2023 to nearly $13 million next year.

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