Jerry Davarus Jeudy (born April 24, 1999) is an American football wide receiver for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, where he was awarded the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation's best wide receiver as a sophomore in 2018, and was drafted by the Broncos with the 15th overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Early years
Jeudy attended Deerfield Beach High School in Deerfield Beach, Florida, where he played high school football. As a high school senior in 2016, he had 76 receptions for 1,054 yards and 15 touchdowns. Jeudy was rated as a five star recruit, the third highest rated wide receiver in the country and 21st highest rated recruit overall by the 247Sports Composite. He committed to the University of Alabama to play college football on July 28, 2016.
College career
Freshman year: 2017
Jeudy enrolled early at Alabama and participated in spring practice for the 2017 season. He was named the MVP of Alabama's A-Day spring game after catching five passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns. Jeudy caught his first career pass in Alabama's second game of the season against Fresno State. In total, Jeudy amassed 14 receptions for 264 yards and two touchdowns during his true freshman season.
Sophomore year: 2018
During the spring before his sophomore season in 2018, Jeudy underwent surgery for a meniscus injury which led him to miss part of spring practice. He fully recovered in time for fall camp, saying "I feel great, actually. I forgot I got injured to be real." Jeudy was named third-team preseason All-SEC at SEC Media Days.
Jeudy caught six touchdown passes in Alabama's first three games of the 2018 season, including a 136-yard, two-touchdown performance against Ole Miss. He had 135 yards and two touchdowns against Arkansas on October 6, and the next week set a career high with 147 yards and a touchdown against Missouri. He had 139 yards and a touchdown in Alabama's loss to Clemson in the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship.
Jeudy was named a consensus first-team All-American and first-team All-SEC. He was awarded the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation's best wide receiver. His 14 receiving touchdowns led the conference and was tied for third nationally, and his 1,315 receiving yards were second in the conference behind Ole Miss's A. J. Brown.
Junior year: 2019
Jeudy was a unanimous pre-season All-American heading into his junior year, and a favorite to repeat as the Biletnikoff Award winner. Numerous publications named him among the best returning players in the country, and he was listed on several Heisman Trophy watchlists.
Jeudy was the Crimson Tide's leading receiver in each of their first two games, finishing with 137 yards and a touchdown in the season opener against Duke, and 103 yards and three touchdowns against New Mexico State the following week. Jeudy eclipsed 100 yards in only two more games during the regular season, in part due to the season-ending injury of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. He finished the regular season with 959 yards receiving and 9 touchdowns and was again named first-team All-SEC. He capped off his junior season with six receptions for 204 yards and a touchdown in the Crimson Tide's win over Michigan in the Citrus Bowl. In January 2020, Jeudy announced he would forgo his senior season by entering the 2020 NFL Draft.