The start of the 2023 NFL season hasn’t been kind to the Denver Broncos, who find themselves in a 0-3 hole. The jury is still out as to whether the Sean Payton-Russell Wilson partnership will flourish, but that end result affects the upside of wide receiver Jerry Jeudy. The Broncos wideout has been solid through his first two games, but can fantasy managers trust the future of Denver’s offense?
We break down whether it’s already time to drop Jerry Jeudy in fantasy leagues.
Fantasy football outlook: Broncos WR Jerry Jeudy
After missing the season opener with a hamstring injury, Jeudy has slowly ramped up over the last two weeks. In Week 3 he finished with a quietly productive game, catching five of his seven targets for 81 yards and 13.1 PPR fantasy points. His 11.6 yards per target in Week 3 was encouraging, however, the game script may have been a factor as the Broncos suffered a record-breaking 70-20 loss.
The questions about his fantasy upside reside more with Sean Payton’s offensive philosophy. Denver ranks 12th in pass attempts per game (34.7), but it begs the question of whether Payton is forcing Russell Wilson to play out of character. Denver is 15th in scoring offense so far (23.0 PPG), but if the Payton-Wilson partnership doesn’t work out, it could severely downgrade the fantasy output for the likes of Jeudy.
Verdict
Jeudy’s skillset more than speaks for itself, and his 12 targets are tied for second on the team even though he missed Week 1. Interestingly enough, if Denver continues to play from behind, it could force the Broncos to throw early and often. Such a trend would benefit Jeudy’s fantasy production, especially if he benefits from a few garbage time opportunities. Regardless, Jeudy is too valuable to be a drop candidate this early into the season.
If anything, he’s worth keeping on the roster so as to monitor his target share and fantasy production over the course of the next few weeks. If he keeps putting up goose eggs, then it warrants serious drop consideration.
Possible replacements
Two of the leading names on the waiver wire this week are Tank Dell of the Houston Texans and Joshua Palmer of the Los Angeles Chargers. C.J. Stroud has looked promising through the first three games, and it’s clear he’s found a favorite deep threat in Dell. The rookie wideout is averaging 16.7 yards per reception and has excellent upside, especially if the Texans remain competitive.
Palmer finished with 14.6 PPR fantasy points in Week 3 and is an emerging candidate to fill the void left by Mike Williams, who suffered a torn ACL. Similar to Stroud, the value with Palmer is that he has a quarterback in Justin Herbert who should have no restrictions in throwing deep. The same can’t confidently be said about Wilson’s partnership with Payton so far.