The Cleveland Browns are making a concerted effort to get more explosive in the passing attack in 2023. And the smoke is visible between the Browns and Denver Broncos as they continue to float out their former first round wide receiver as trade bait. As the Browns continue to pursue Jerry Jeudy on the trade market, with the asking price likely the 42nd overall pick in the draft and an additional pick, this price for Jeudy is well worth it.
Here we take a look at data provided by SIS, PFF, ESPN Analytics, and Next Gen Stats to break down exactly what makes Jeudy such a tantalizing trade target for the Browns.
A weak draft class of wide receivers and a surplus of day-three picks
If there is one thing I am certain of with the Browns as the 2023 NFL Draft nears, it is that they are not making six picks on day-three of the draft. With two fourths and two fifths, it makes sense to take one of those picks with the 42nd overall pick to make the deal. With only four picks in next year’s draft, this makes more sense than trying to pull a pick from that pool.
Compared to the three classes before the 2023 crop of receivers, it is just not a good class at the top. In this wide receiver class, where the most tantalizing targets with that pick are North Carolina’s Josh Downs or Cincinnati’s Tyler Scott, flipping 42 for Jeudy would be a home run.
It is doubtful the Browns want to go into the draft without a pick until the 98th overall pick. But if they can reframe and tell themselves that Jeudy was their second round pick, it may smooth out a bit of the thought process.
Jerry Jeudy flat-out gets open
According to Next Gen Stats, Jeudy is the best separator of any target who is not a tight end or a pure slot receiver with over seven yards of cushion. Additionally, Jeudy is the top receiver in yards per route run against man coverage, proving to be more than capable of torching cornerbacks one-on-one.
When going against man coverage in 2022, Jeudy posted a massive 21 yards per route run, no drops, a 150.5 rating, and an EPA and points earned that would rank him fifth of all wide receivers in the NFL (according to SIS).
He possesses explosive hip sink, plays the game in slow motion to create and hunt out blindspots of defensive backs, and is unbelievably sudden at the top of routes. Even with Cooper on the roster, Jeudy would be the best route runner on the team in Cleveland.
Jerry Jeudy out here playing hide & seek pic.twitter.com/H2gJKx0Jvz
— JetPack Galileo (@JetPackGalileo) January 11, 2023
Jeudy can do something no Browns receiver could do a year ago: create after the catch
There is not a receiver on the Browns roster that has shown the ability to create lightning in a bottle with the ball in their hands after the catch. The only name currently on the roster that may be able to do so is Jaelen Darden, but he is not a lock to make the roster and struggled to find the field after he was claimed by the Browns late in the season.
Enter Jeudy.
Sixth in yards after the catch in 2022, Jeudy is an incredibly hard man to bring down in the open field. Elusive and explosive, Jeudy can break angles in the open field on his way to the endzone and shows the ability to stop on a dime and change directions losslessly as he reverses the field.
On screens, manufactured touches, and creating after the catch down the field, Jeudy has a skillset that is desperately needed on this team.
The drop issues of Jeudy are vastly overblown
Sure, Jeudy had a rough time catching the football as a rookie, but since then his hands have been around league average. In 2022, Jeudy was charted with six drops according to PFF. This was the same as his teammate Courtland Sutton, Amari Cooper, Davante Adams, DeVonta Smith, and Ja’Marr Chase.
His drop percentage was 26th in the NFL, below the likes of Diontae Johnson, Alec Pierce, Brandin Cooks, Jaylen Waddle, and Christian Kirk.
SIS has Jeudy charted at just a 6.5 percent drop rate this past season. Beyond his rookie season, the drops and drop rate of Jeudy have trended toward the league average more than any sort of outlying or glaring number.
Drops happen to everybody. Guess who has a consistently staggering drop rate that nobody cares about because he produces? Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, but attention is not paid to that because he produces.
And Jeudy produced in 2022 despite playing with a quarterback who was among the bottom five in the NFL a year ago.
Closing the book on Jeudy
Amari Cooper is pegged as having a great year for the Browns a year ago. And he did! Setting career marks, or coming even with career marks almost across the board, Cooper left a ton to like on the field in 2022. However, Jeudy produced just as well as he did across the board in two fewer games and 32 fewer targets.
He is an elite receiver at beating man coverage, and his drop issues have trended more toward the league average than anything else. With two years of control on his rookie contract still, before Jeudy would need a new deal, the Browns would have a cost-effective WR1B to Cooper’s 1A in 2023.
As the Browns have to deal with the reality of Cooper’s cap hit beyond 2023 as well, Jeudy gives the Browns a pure top option even if they have to part ways elsewhere. For the price of the 42nd overall pick and an additional day three pick (of which the Browns have six), the price of admission is with it for Jeudy.
