SIS Football Rookie Handbook Preview: Jerry Jeudy

Sports Info Solutions (SIS) brings you the second annual edition of The SIS Football Rookie Handbook, with scouting reports and statistical breakdowns on over 280 college football players who are likely to be drafted or signed as rookie free agents in 2020 (a glossary for the below stats can be found here). New features for this year include unique and informative NFL team pages, research deep-dives by the SIS R&D team, and—for the first time ever—the NCAA version of their flagship football statistic, Total Points. 

Continuing our position-by-position preview of this year’s draft class, we shift our focus to wide receivers. As a scouting staff, we use common terminology to grade every trait that we evaluate. We use a 1-9 scale with a 1 representing a “Reject” grade and a 9 meaning a “Rare” grade for whatever trait we are evaluating. We spend a lot of time in our internal Scout School making sure that our scales are calibrated with one another, and this common scale and set of language is a key aspect to ensuring that our evaluations are consistent (that…and cross-checks).

Additionally, for each position in the book, there are positional grading scales. As opposed to grading traits, these scales apply to stacking the final grades for each prospect. The final wide receiver scale is as follows:

Jerry Jeudy: WR Rank 1 of 37 | Final Grade: 7.0

Report by Chad Tedder

One Liner 

Jeudy’s twitch, acceleration, body control, and route detail make him a special route runner and separator who will make an immediate impact in the NFL.

Overall 

Jeudy was a wide receiver in Alabama’s spread RPO offense. He primarily played on the multi-receiver side out of the slot but also played some snaps out wide. He played in 42 games, starting 17 over two seasons. He had meniscus surgery in the spring of 2018, but did not miss any games due to injury. Jeudy is a slender quick-twitch athlete with burst, speed, and great body control. He gives great effort and played in his final bowl game despite having little left to prove in his career, but he is not an overly physical or tough receiver.

Pass Game 

Against press coverage, Jeudy beats his defender off the line with the quickness and control to miss jams and get into his route. He was often schemed free releases within Alabama’s offense but showed little issue beating tight coverage. He possesses great body control, and his start/stop ability and acceleration to stem his routes and set up defenders to create space is special. He uses a plethora of detailed techniques with his footwork and hips to set up defenders and get exceptional separation. 

As a result of his skill, offensive scheme, and quarterback’s accuracy, he has a limited history of contested catches and jump balls. He is capable of plucking from outside his frame, but had some concentration drops and issues fighting through contact for catchable balls. He will resort to basket catches deep and rarely high-points. Jeudy has very good play speed and has a second gear to tap into. After the catch, Jeudy is very elusive. His dead-leg juke and hesitation moves have made many defenders miss in the open field, but he is not a physical run finisher. Jeudy wins with his route running at all three levels of the field. His ball carrying skills and quickness make him a weapon on screens and slants, he sinks his hips and separates excellently on crossers, curls, and comebacks, and his footwork and route savvy give him plenty of space to make easy plays downfield.

Run Game 

In the run game, Jeudy flashed competitiveness and willingness to make blocks. He is content to get in the way and can stalk block with his length, but he won’t overpower defensive backs. He was often used as an RPO option on slants or screens as opposed to a frontside run blocker. He is also a weapon on jet sweeps.

Last Word 

Jeudy projects as a high-end starting receiver in the NFL. He will make an immediate impact at the next level and is capable of working in the slot or out wide. His route running, acceleration, and YAC abilities are pro-ready traits. He did not play special teams in his career and does not project to have any impact in this area. There are some concerns about his ability to transition away from the talent and scheme around him at Alabama, but he has too much natural talent to not be an excellent NFL receiver.

Critical Factors

Positional Factors

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Advanced

Deep Dive