The Cleveland Browns found their wide receiver room was lacking, so they went out and gave up two Day 3 picks for Jerry Jeudy.
And the former first round pick entering his fifth season in the NFL brings something that only Amari Cooper has proven to do in Cleveland in recent history: beat man coverage. Now with two players who are a threat to get open and make a play, opposing defenses cannot cheat over onto one particular threat.
Just how good is Jeudy against man coverage, however? One of the best in the NFL. Cody Suek of Browns Film Breakdown lays out the data the best.
According to Suek, using Expected Points Added data, Jeudy has finished in the top-10 over the past two seasons of every wide receiver in EPA per target against Cover-1. In fact, he was fourth in 2022 before falling to ninth in 2023.
#DawgPound @jerryjeudy vs. Cover-1 coverage over the past two seasons among qualifying WRs:
▪️ +0.63 EPA per target in 2023 (9th)
▪️ +0.84 EPA per target in 2022 (4th)Good luck to your ankles, CBs. https://t.co/2wtJX2YEHP
— Cody Suek (@CodySuek) August 15, 2024
The Browns are hoping that data continues to trend in Jeudy’s favor, and that the talented wide receiver can stay on the field for 17 games as he comes over from Denver.