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Week 16 GDT - Broncos at Chargers


AnAngryAmerican

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43 minutes ago, germ-x said:

Jeudy’s drops have been brushed off for much of the year.  It’s clear today it’s a serious issue and if he can’t make those plays he can never be a #1 WR in this league.  

I haven't seen enough to be concerned long-term - until today.  The problem is that the problem is in Jeudy's head in a massive way now.    The same thing happened to Diontae Johnson in Pitt - 2+ drops for 3 straight games that were totally on him and he got benched for it for a half (on MNF vs. BUF), to drive home the point.   

Guy who separates like him and wins vs. press, the drops aren't a technical issue - but it's moot, once it gets this bad.  This is where you find out a lot about him - because this is a signature game (in a bad way).   Even if he balls out next week (and LV's D certainly gives that opp) - it won't (and shouldn't) prevent the whispers next offseason about where his head is at.    We're going to find out how accountable he is, and how resililent.   

Sadly, it probably also takes away from the issues Lock demonstrated again - so it's more than enough to keep the heat off Lock, and it's very fair.  It's just that Lock's problems today are typical of ones that will prevent us from beating better teams.     The LAC team we saw today was eminently beatable with no Ingram / Bosa - they had no pressure on Lock most of the game.     We definitely should have put up at least 24-27 pts.     Jeudy's drops will rightfully take front and center this week - but it's missing the point that we're stuck in this O without more progress at QB, and overall.    The silver lining is that this pretty much cements we'll be going the vet route to at least challenge, if not plan-B-for-injury with Lock next offseason - and we should.

As for LAC - Lynn's predictability with a 13-0 lead nearly got the backdoor W for us - but ironically, with KC clinching the 1 seed next week, a W in a meaningless game could give LAC & Lynn a 5-game winning streak.  And keep him at the helm for LAC.   Frankly, for us, that's the best possible thing - because Herbert was his usual amazing self, even with no Allen/Henry, he got LAC into position to score so often. 

Edited by Broncofan
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30 minutes ago, broncosfan_101 said:

I’m with @Broncofan, there was zero concern about Jeudy’s drops until today. The reason for continued hope in his case is that it’s MUCH easier to teach a WR to catch better than it is to teach one how to separate like he can. 

@lomaxgrUK had a clip of Jeudy a while back that really kinda shocked me. In it, he faked a guy out of his shorts and was wide open near the sideline. He was looking for the ball over his right shoulder but the ball was coming in over his left. Instead of just turning his head and watching it in over his left shoulder, he turned his entire body around backwards so he could follow and catch the ball.

Most kids in high school have been coached out of that habit. To see it in the pros is really rare. I don't think he's ever been coached on catching the ball.

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1 hour ago, broncosfan_101 said:

I’m with @Broncofan, there was zero concern about Jeudy’s drops until today. The reason for continued hope in his case is that it’s MUCH easier to teach a WR to catch better than it is to teach one how to separate like he can. 

There was concern.  He dropped balls in college at a high rate.  It isn’t new.

Is he going to drop 5 balls a game?  No, but it is and has been a concern since his days at Alabama.  Watch the LSU game where he has multiple huge drops.

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Strangely bittersweet loss today. On one hand, this puts us in great position for our corner that we desperately need. On the other hand we again see Lock do what he's been doing barring a couple of outliers. Jeudy I'm not completely worried about yet. I remember Sutton having a bunch of easy drops his first year and Fant had plenty too. They both have figured it out and are definitely reliable now. That said, he needs to become much more professional. Those tweets are just unacceptable. 

Also bittersweet, with the Jets winning again, the vet qb market has indeed gotten much tighter and costly. I have a strong feeling Lock will be starting next season and I do worry Broncos are gonna sandbag it with qb until the new management comes in (hopefully soon). To me it's just painful to see this team with so much talent and no direction... We were talking about this week's ago about the lack of identity. We just did an entire season with no identity except maybe a gritty defense. We will see I suppose. Again we're in a great position player-wise and draft picks.... Just need to come together

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2 minutes ago, BroncoBruin said:

I’m not sure how you can say his drops weren’t a concern before today. It was brought up frequently before the draft and it cost us the Titans game. It has been and is a concern. But he’s more easily fixable than this quarterback...

Agreed.  It’s been talked about throughout the season, reports of him dropping balls in training camp as well, and it dates back to college.  He’s not going to drop 5 balls a game, but it’s pretty consistent at this point. 

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23 minutes ago, germ-x said:

Agreed.  It’s been talked about throughout the season, reports of him dropping balls in training camp as well, and it dates back to college.  He’s not going to drop 5 balls a game, but it’s pretty consistent at this point. 

It’s not something I’m too worried about in a macro sense. He may just always be a guy who has some frustrating drops but I doubt it outweighs the overall production. Still more encouraged by the fact that he gets open all the time and feel he should still develop into a consistent 1000 yard receiver. 

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1 minute ago, BroncoBruin said:

It’s not something I’m too worried about in a macro sense. He may just always be a guy who has some frustrating drops but I doubt it outweighs the overall production. Still more encouraged by the fact that he gets open all the time and feel he should still develop into a consistent 1000 yard receiver. 

Same.  It’s not like he’s going to be a scrub.  However, I do think it’s something that could potentially keep him from being an elite go to type WR, especially in crunch time.

Honestly, I think it’s a good humbling experience for him after complaining about not getting enough targets.  Today was an absolute embarrassment for an NFL WR.  

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1 hour ago, germ-x said:

Agreed.  It’s been talked about throughout the season, reports of him dropping balls in training camp as well, and it dates back to college.  He’s not going to drop 5 balls a game, but it’s pretty consistent at this point. 

 

1 hour ago, BroncoBruin said:

It’s not something I’m too worried about in a macro sense. He may just always be a guy who has some frustrating drops but I doubt it outweighs the overall production. Still more encouraged by the fact that he gets open all the time and feel he should still develop into a consistent 1000 yard receiver. 

 

1 hour ago, germ-x said:

Same.  It’s not like he’s going to be a scrub.  However, I do think it’s something that could potentially keep him from being an elite go to type WR, especially in crunch time.

Honestly, I think it’s a good humbling experience for him after complaining about not getting enough targets.  Today was an absolute embarrassment for an NFL WR.  

To be clear, my point was that I wasn't concerned long-term - not that there was no concern.    As ppl have mentioned, he gets so much separation, and wins with precise routes and in all 3 levels of the field.  And the drops aren't a Sammy Coates issue (where the guy literally has no hands).  He makes the amazing, tough catch at times that it's just inconceivable to watch him drop the easy one.   

I mentioned it the 1st time - the best example right now is Diontae Johnson - he's actually leading the league in drops (well, he was until today lol).   I think it was 13.   And it's unbelievable, because he's a hand catcher, and makes great tough catches, too.  There, it's the system that puts them into YAC mode so much, he's trying to move before he's secured the ball.  But I think he had 7 drops in 3 games - and by the 2nd in the 3rd game, Tomlin finally benched him for an entire half to send the message.   It was pretty clear it got into his head, and he needed to take a break.     In Jeudy's case, the drops were so huge this game, that it's going to be way more magnified, which is more than OK in my book (more on that later).   But much like Johnson is still PIT's top receiver volume-wise (because he gains the most separation in routes in the league, thanks Next Gen Stats), Jeudy's other skills should keep him in great position.   

As mentioned above, sometimes you need this kind of humbling experience to address the problem once and for all.   Next week won't be enough to wipe away the concern - and IMO, that's a good thing.  Jeudy's had nothing but success since he burst on the scene in 'Bama - facing adversity is part of life in the NFL.  Better he face it now, and learn from it - and if he doesn't, well he wasn't meant to be a star.  But given where he's at, and the skills he's already shown, I'm still very optimistic there.    He should be working all offseason with a Juggs machine and getting the kinks out - and come out a humbled and better player for it next year.  The rest of his game is so great already, this should be priority 1,2,3 this offseason.    Frankly, I have a lot more faith Jeudy will still be great at WR than I do with Lock as our future QB at this stage.    I realize Lock has done enough to still get his shot next year - but not nearly enough to feel like we can bank on it - and whether it be a vet, or a QB opp presents itself Rd1, well, a plan B is definitely coming.   Oh well, it was nice having 1 offseason where we didn't have to think about QBOTF at all LOL (Lock may be that guy, but no way anyone can feel confident about it, after the way year 2 has gone).

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I respect him for facing the media. Would've been easy for him to not do that in the zoom era (Haskins dodged the media yesterday).

His drops were really bad, but zero points against that D in the 1st half just isn't good enough. So much miss execution everywhere on Offense.

I just want to hear in February of our guys working together. No excuses. Get out there and fight for your QBs NFL starting career.

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Jeudy was pathetic today. Hopefully this humbles him and he works on this during the offseason. Candidly, the guy has likely not faced a ton of adversity in his career- star in HS, star in college, now playing on a bad team. His body language has been trash this year. Hopefully this season is a maturing experience for him. We'll see. 

Anyway, the loss is what it is. Denver sitting at the 10th spot right now- right in the prime territory for a prospect that could really help us- on offense or defense.

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