Jerry Jeudy’s revenge game against the Broncos was one for the record books

The 2020 NFL Draft was filled with talent at multiple positions, including wide receiver. Players like Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, and Brandon Aiyuk all came off the board in the first round, with Tee Higgins joining them early in the second.

But the second wide receiver picked that year, coming off the board ahead of those four players? Jerry Jeudy, who was picked at No. 15 by the Denver Broncos.

In many ways, the 2020 WR class was a “dealer’s choice” proposition, given the talent level in that group. Denver selecting Jeudy ahead of those players was a defendable proposition, given what the wide receiver accomplished in college. At Alabama Jeudy put up monster numbers and racked up award after award, earning First-Team All-American honors as a sophomore — as well as winning the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the top WR in the nation — and he might have topped the numbers he posted as a sophomore during his junior season, were it not for a season-ending injury suffered by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

But his time in Denver never matched the promise he showed at Alabama. While Jeudy dealt with multiple injuries during his time with the Broncos, he never eclipsed the 1,000-yard receiving mark in any of his four seasons with the team and caught just 11 touchdown passes.

Denver traded him to the Cleveland Browns for a pair of late-round draft picks this past spring.

But Jeudy was back in the Mile High City on Monday night, marking his first game against his former team, and he absolutely went off. Jeudy hauled in nine catches for a career-high 235 yards and a touchdown against the Broncos, and while Cleveland came up short on the scoreboard, the WR made some NFL history in the process.

His 235 receiving yards were the most by a player in a game against their former team, breaking the record set by Terrell Owens back in 2008 when he caught 7 passes for 213 yards for the Dallas Cowboys against his first NFL team, the San Francisco 49ers.

Jeudy seemed primed for a big night from Cleveland’s very first offensive play, as he turned a dig route over the middle into a 44-yard gain, with 30 of those yards coming after the reception:

The wide receiver was instrumental on a Browns’ touchdown drive before halftime, making a pair of big receptions as Cleveland marched down the field. The first came on this dig route with Jeudy working from the right side of the field:

The second came on this out-breaking route, with Jeudy making a tough sliding catch as defenders closed in on him:

With the Broncos crowd booing him with every target, and every reception, Jeudy kept racking up the catches and the yardage. Then came his big play in the second half, this 70-yard touchdown that saw Jeudy get behind the defense, then savor every moment as he fell backward into the end zone in celebration:

While the Browns ultimately fell short, Jeudy’s career game coming at the expense of his former team was something the receiver enjoyed, even if he wanted a different outcome.

“High emotions,” Jeudy said. “Like I said before, you always want to beat the team that you used to play for, but we came up short. We have to find a way to finish, find a way to win.”

In his full post-game comments, Jeudy acknowledged that there were a “lot of boos” coming his way Monday night. But as he pointed out, there were “a lot of catches too:”

This season Jeudy and Ja’Marr Chase are the only players with multiple 70-plus-yard receiving touchdowns on the year, and they are also the only players with 200-plus receiving yards in a game this year. Jeudy also became the fifth Cleveland player with 200-plus receiving yards in a single game in franchise history.