Jerry Jeudy’s role in Cleveland is changing, but the Browns don’t sound worried about how he took it.
After arriving in 2024 and immediately becoming the team’s top receiver, Jeudy put together a huge first season with the Browns: a career-high 90 catches, 1,229 yards and four touchdowns. That production earned him a Pro Bowl nod in his first full season in Cleveland and cemented him as one of the NFL’s premier wideouts.
Now, though, the Browns are shifting things around. With the quarterback situation still unsettled heading into Week 1, the team has spent time experimenting with its offense, and Jeudy is one of the biggest pieces affected by that process. After what was described as a so-so campaign last year, Cleveland decided changes were needed, starting with the draft, where the Browns added receivers KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston to try to boost the offense.
Following training camp and the preseason, the team officially moved Jeudy to the Z spot. For the past couple of years, he had been the Browns’ WR1, so the change marked a noticeable adjustment in how Cleveland plans to use him.
Coach Todd Monken said Jeudy handled the news well. “It’s been great.
In fact, I met with him today and he was great. We just feel like we want the ability to keep him on the move, whether it’s a Z or an F, and I think we can still play him at X.
We want to move him around, and we wanted to see how Denzel would function as our X receiver,” Monken said to reporters.
Monken expanded on that idea in a separate interview, making clear that the Browns are less concerned with labels than with fit. “I just view it as we’re trying to put the pieces where we can best allow us to function offensively.
I really don’t care who plays X or who plays Z. … We just thought Denzel’s skill set gave us some things there that Jerry’s didn’t, and Jerry’s skill set playing off the ball allowed us to really maximize his skill set.”
Even with that adjustment, the bigger issue in Cleveland remains the quarterback rotation. Until that gets sorted out, the Browns’ receivers - Jeudy included - are heading into a season full of uncertainty.
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