2 min read • September 11, 2020
Posted in
Jerry Jeudy - WR
As we detailed in our draft analysis, the concern with rookie Jerry Jeudy is long term on his knee. Jerry Jeudy has had recent question marks raised about his previous knee injury. It was released that he has lingering knee issues two seasons removed from the initial surgery. In 2018, the Alabama product had a meniscus tear which required surgery and forced him to miss the majority of spring practices. After the surgery, Jeudy generated a career high 1.315 yards and 14 touchdowns. In 2019, he had no injuries of note and produced another 1,000 yard/double digit touchdown season. At face value, Jeudy seems ready to go but there is a reason why medical evaluations are so important. All meniscus surgeries do not go smoothly and removing parts of the meniscus carries an increased risk of arthritis. The concern for his left knee is real after new documentation from his team physician that presents optimism and also could have some teams concerned. On the positive side, Jeudy has played 28 games across two seasons and has not required any treatment. On the negative side, the letter from the physician acknowledges a lateral meniscus tear including "removal of the predominance of his posterior horn of his lateral meniscus". That means the majority of the "shock absorber" function of the meniscus is gone thus a higher chance for progression of arthritis. In addition, injury to the lateral meniscus increases the risk of arthritis several fold over. The good news is that he does not seem to show arthritis although Jeudy is at significant risk for progressive arthritis over time even if he is not suffering from it currently. We are not saying that he is "undraftable" and in fact was the second wideout off the board in the 2020 draft going in the first round to the Denver Broncos. It seems Jeudy is still positioned to have a successful NFL career but his medical history remains a concern. He has been very productive in college and the Broncos hope that can continue in the NFL but the question is for how long.
IR/Opt Outs
TE Austin Fort
T Ja'Wuan James
DE Jonathan harris
DE Joel Heath
DT Kyle Peko
LB Justin Strnad
Written by
