Draft Profile: Jerry Jeudy

January 2, 2020 /
  • Height: 6’1″
  • Weight: 192lb
  • College: Alabama
  • Tape watched: South Carolina, LSU, Auburn, Ole Miss, Michigan, Clemson (2018), Texas A&M (2018)
  • NFL Comparison: Odell Beckham Jr

Pros

  • Route Running
    By far the best trait of Jerry Jeudy is his route running and understanding of defensive schemes. Jeudy slices through every coverage thrown at him. Using elite acceleration out of his route breaks, Jeudy creates the most separation in this receiver class. He excels at setting up double moves over the top, disappearing from the defense.
    When shown man coverage, Jeudy uses great footwork and head fakes to get corners off balance, and snaps his hips last second to the end of his route.
Jeudy sends the corner five yards on his face with this hitch. He does this without any extra contact with the defender.
Head fakes and elite change of direction are all commonplace with Jerry Jeudy’s skill set.
Jeudy is a literal blur in and out of route breaks.
  • Release
    I’m not sure if there is a cornerback in college football that has successfully pressed Jerry Jeudy. His footwork and release are lightning fast, and he uses his hands so well during contact. Jeudy can accelerate and decelerate at the drop of a hat.
Press coverage results in corners chasing Jeudy through his route. Every. Single. Time.
  • Body Position
    While Jeudy will never be a jump ball or go-get-it receiver, he still shows great body control and position. He is excellent at stacking defensive backs and keeping them away from the football.
  • Combat Catches
    To make combat catches the defense has to be in the same general area as the receiver. To no fault of Jerry Jeudy (well, completely his fault), he hasn’t had a ton of opportunities to showcase his ability to make catches in traffic. He usually finds the football with space to run. When caught in traffic, he shows the ability to make critical catches in contact situations.
  • Athleticism
    Odell Beckham Jr. was the player comparison mentioned above, however Jerry Jeudy is a tier below Odell’s athleticism. Jeudy isn’t going to do a ton with the football after catches in traffic or first contact, but he has excellent agility and acceleration. The main pro of his athleticism is what happens before he gets the football. When you have the separation he creates, the yards after catch happen on their own.

Cons

  • Physicality
    Jerry Jeudy just isn’t a physical receiver. Very rarely does he search out extra contact and he offers little to nothing in run blocking.
  • Drops
    One of the only concerns with Jerry Jeudy is his knack for catching the football with his body. He tends to feel most comfortable making basket catches instead of using his hands to first secure the football. This was most evident in the LSU game this year where he had two huge drops for touchdowns. There is plenty of tape displaying his ability to make tough catches with his hands however, he just needs to be consistent at the catch point.
Despite the basket catch issues, Jeudy displays good hands. There should be no glaring problem at the NFL level.

Overview

Jerry Jeudy is a plug and play, day-one receiver for whoever drafts him in the first round this year. He is a player that opens up an offense with his ability to get open. He is the type of player that teams will need bracket with an extra defensive back due to his ability to find holes in defenses. Teams shouldn’t overthink this pick, and make Jerry Jeudy a top 10 selection in April.