The Denver Broncos opted not to trade up in the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday and still landed the top wide receiver on the big board.
Talk about a pleasant surprise!
Jeudy being available at No. 15 was one of the biggest surprises of the draft, according to Draft Wire’s Luke Easterling.
“It shouldn’t have surprised too many people when Alabama’s Henry Ruggs III was the first wide receiver off the board, but it was unexpected to see his Crimson Tide teammate Jerry Jeudy, and Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb, slip as far down the board as they did,” Easterling wrote on Saturday.
Broncos general manager John Elway said on Thursday evening that Jeudy was off the board before their pick in most of their mock drafts.
“I think that when you look at it, he was there [only] a couple of times,” Elway said. “We really kind of worked off our mocks with him not being there, and in the situation he wasn’t there, which direction would we go. It was a lot less than 50 percent.
“And that’s why when he was there, we were thrilled that he was there.”
[vertical-gallery id=638498]