The Extra Point: Jerry Jeudy Off to Great Start at Broncos Training Camp

Former Alabama wide receiver and first-round draft pick could be poised for a monster season in Denver.

Here's something that should cause Denver Broncos fans to be even more optimistic about wide receiver Jerry Jeudy: He thinks Alabama's fall workouts under Nick Saban were tougher than NFL training camp. 

"College training camps are a lot more difficult," Jeudy said Thursday afternoon.

It took him a while to adjust to the college game, and as a freshman he tallied just 14 catches for 264 yards. But as he got accustomed to his new team and surroundings, he responded by totaling 68 catches for 1,315 yards as a sophomore when he won the Biletnikoff Award as the best receiver in college football. 

If he has a similar jump this year ...  

"I think it's going to be a lot different," said Jeudy, who is already the buzz of the Broncos. 

Here was the lede of a story on NFL.com on Wednesday: "The Broncos have only just begun training camp, but Jerry Jeudy is already making highlight-reel plays."

As a rookie, Jeudy had 52 catches for 856 yards, but was heavily criticized for his drops.

Mile High Huddle did a deep dive on the issue and found that the negative talk was mostly unwarranted.   

"A big reason for his high drop percentage stems from his five-drop campaign against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 16. It was most definitely his worst performance of the season and one of the worst receiving days the Broncos have had since Demaryius Thomas only caught one of his 13 total targets and dropped a handful of passes against the New England Patriots back in 2015.

"Even so, one bad performance does not define an entire season."

Jeudy heard the talk, though, and it's obviously inspired him to make sure that it quickly ends. Consequently, he's being mentioned a lot as a breakout candidate for this season, and more.  

"There's no doubt in my mind that Jeudy can have an All-Pro, Pro Bowl season this year," safety Justin Simmons told reporters after the team's first training camp practice. "He's just that good. Everyone wanted to talk about what happened last year [with some drops], but I'm not even worried about it one bit. I've seen the work that he's been putting in in the offseason, saw what he did during OTAs.

"We only got a snippet of it today, snagging passes out of the air way outside of the body frame. That's just the beginning. Competition is something that he never shies from, and I know he's going to be tremendous for us this year. He's going to be big."

#Broncos @jerryjeudy on this season. #Denver7 pic.twitter.com/ed3OPOL6r1

— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) July 29, 2021

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