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What makes Jerry Jeudy great? Broncos teammates tell all: 'Call him, Mr. Get Open'

Dec. 17—ENGLEWOOD — Montrell Washington has the perfect nickname for Broncos wide receiver Jerry Jeudy.

"Call him, 'Mr. Get Open,'" the rookie receiver said of Jeudy. "For real. He's a baller."

Now in his third NFL season, Jeudy is finally hitting his stride. The former 15th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft is coming off the best game of his career last week against the Chiefs — eight receptions, 73 yards, three touchdowns. And, despite missing essentially three games, he's having the best season of his career — 42 receptions, 587 yards, six touchdowns.

But what is it that makes Jeudy great?

The Denver Gazette asked eight of Jeudy's teammates, on offense and defense, that exact question.

"Jerry — obviously, he's a play maker but I think it starts with his approach to it," said Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II, who played with Jeudy at Alabama from 2018-19. "He runs probably the best routes in the NFL — top routes in the NFL. Once you get that and once he gets the ball in his hands, he is capable of taking it to the house. He's one of those special guys and dominant players on the offensive side of the ball that you know you have to keep an eye on for opposing defenses."

Few know Jeudy better than Surtain, having covered him more than any cornerback in college and the NFL, going against him in practice the past four years. And he's right — Jeudy's route running it elite.

In fact, when asked what attribute they would steal from Jeudy, nearly all of his fellow wideouts said the same thing.

* Montrell Washington: "It's got to be the route running. He's the best route runner, in my opinion, in the game. I tell everybody — I don't think anyone can run a route like Jerry."

* Jalen Virgil: "Route running. Even routes on air. I want him to go first. I want him to go in front of me so I can see how he does it because I know he's the best in the league at doing it .Everything he does is the same until he makes his move. And then once he makes his move, it's too late."

* Kendall Hinton: "I've stolen a lot from him. But definitely route running. It's like art, like poetry. It makes it tough for DBs to pick up on tendencies or understand what he's doing. He's freakishly athletic. He's fast. He's quick. He's crazy explosive. It's all those things that go into making Jerry Jeudy, Jerry Jeudy."

Route running isn't something easily learned, either. At least, elite route running.

Jeudy said he learned in high school playing alongside Jaguars wide receiver Calvin Ridley and watching film of Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper — both of which played at Alabama. He also said it's not something anyone can just learn. It's a gift.

"It's something you can practice. It's something people are born with. And it's a mentality, too," Jeudy said. "Knowing how to manipulate defenders — that's something you can watch on film over and over. And you can think about it and create in your mind to get open."

It's also not easily defended.

Against Kansas City, Jeudy had several impressive routes, including on all three of his receptions. But maybe none more impressive than a 17-yard reception he had in the second quarter — his second reception of the game.

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Jeudy lined up in the slot with a linebacker and safety lined up on him, shook the linebacker, made the safety think he was going outside, and then goes inside to beat both.

Jerry Jeudy is not real pic.twitter.com/Ys8mu4Guld

— JonGruden2Denver (@SP2YB) December 12, 2022

All-Pro Broncos safety Justin Simmons explained why Jeudy on that play, and all the time, is so difficult to defend.

"It was like a slant where he was double covered. He set it up perfectly and made the top guy — I think it was the safety or the nickel — bite outside and he was able to steal that inside window," Simmons said. "Things like that are what makes him special. Obviously, from a defensive perspective, you do those coverages for a certain reason to take that guy away. The fact that he was still able to get open speaks to some of his creativity, his route running and the ability to get open. That's stuff that we've seen since Day 1 with him."

Jeudy has seen more double coverage this season, mostly because the receiving corps has been injured all season, which has also forced Jeudy to play the X, Y and Z receiver positions. According to coach Nathaniel Hackett, that's not an easy thing to do and something the Broncos intend to do more often with Jeudy since he's had success outside.

"To be able to move him to that position and still have him play some of the other positions, is a credit to him and his understanding of the offense and the different routes that we can do," Hackett said. "To be able to get him on the move, to be able to motion him and to be able to have him go one-on-one. There are a lot of people that once they try to press him or try to go one-on-one with him, he can do some pretty unique things. That's the thing that I've noticed more as I've gotten to know him. He's very smart, too.

"There's so much more that I think we can see from Jerry."

Hackett likes Jeudy's odds on the outside, especially in one-on-one situations. And he should, as Jeudy ranks No. 1 in the NFL in yards per route against man coverage at 4.67 and his fourth in the NFL in yards after catch against man coverage at 9.83.

The problem for Jeudy is that NFL defenses are playing more zone coverage than ever. This season, he's had only 17 targets in man coverage compared to 61 in zone. If there's one area Jeudy can improve — other than avoiding incidents with officials — it's getting open against zone coverage.

"There's a little bit of a finesse to the zone coverage world," Hackett said. "In the end, you want to have that combination of both. With Jerry, you saw he had a little short catch on the left that was about five-yard gain, but he was great in fitting between the two defenders. He does a lot of things in zone also. Gets up and over defenders, but then when you try to shut that down and go man — when you have a guy that can beat man coverage, that's when you have a receiver that knows a lot of good stuff."

Either way, against man or zone, Jeudy has shown vast improvement in year three. When he was drafted, many expected him to be the top receiver of that draft. Instead, Minnesota's Justin Jefferson and Dallas' CeeDee Lamb have had better seasons, especially Jefferson, who many consider arguably the best receiver in the NFL already. Even Jeudy said Jefferson should be considered for league MVP.

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While some have considered Jeudy's first three seasons underwhelming, he hasn't exactly been dealt a fair hand. He's caught passes from five different quarterbacks and had three different offensive coordinators in three seasons. He's also had injury issues, missing nine games the last two years with ankle injuries. And sure, he needs to control his emotions better, after being fined $36,281 for an outburst at an official last Sunday.

But Jeudy, 23, has shown the potential to be elite. His route running, as his teammates said, is second to none. And it's only going to improve going forward. Now, it's about perfecting the rest of his craft.

"I think he's right up there with the top," said 13-year pro and Broncos safety Kareem Jackson. "If you can run routes and separate from guys in the secondary, it makes you one of the better guys. As far as his route running ability, I think he's up there with the best of them — Stefon Diggs, Davante Adams, Justin Jefferson. He's in that same tier and will be for a long time."