Jerry Jeudy #3 of the Cleveland Browns
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In most offenses, the top wide receiver on the team is the guy who lines up on the outside, the guy whose job it is to stretch the field, win one-on-one matchups and use his height and strength to outman opposing cornerbacks. That’s usually the job for the team’s best receiver and most dangerous offensive player. For the Cleveland Browns, since bringing in Jerry Jeudy in a trade in 2024, it’s been Jeudy who filled that role.
He certainly lived up to in 2024, when he went for a career-high 90 catches and 1,229 yards, with four touchdowns. That performance earned him a Pro Bowl bid and appeared to justify the Browns’ gamble on him after four so-so seasons in Denver.
But Jeudy was a shell of himself in 2025, in part because the team’s quarterback situation was so poor that a downfield receiver was really of no use, and in part because he suffered form lack of focus and frequent drops. That’s why the Browns used two of their first three picks in this year’s draft on receivers, with KC Concepcion going in the first round and Denzel Boston in the second.
Jerry Jeudy ‘Was Great’ About Role Change
Just like that, Jeudy is no longer the X for the Browns–the bigger (6-foot-4 to Jeudy’s 6-foot-1) and stronger Boston is. On Monday, head coach Todd Monken was asked about Jeudy’s reaction to being moved to the Z spot, where he can go into motion more (X receivers must line up on the line of scrimmage and remain there).
Monken said: “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.”
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Browns Offense Won’t Necessarily Favor X Receiver
But, then the question was raised about how Jeudy has had his role reduced. Monken was asked, “Wouldn’t an X receiver consider that a demotion?”
The presumption there is that the X receiver is the best of the group. Monken pushed back on that. He did not put it this way, of course, but we can–on a lot of teams, the X receiver is the best, but with the Browns’ offense and way that the quarterbacks struggle to throw deep to the sideline, that does not mean that Boston will get the bulk of the targets.
Said Monken: “I don’t see it that way, and (Jerry Jeudy) didn’t see it that way as far as I understand. In his mind, I think he believes he’s better on the move, and he could see what we could do with him moving him around and keeping him in motion. …
“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.”
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Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including "Fun City," "Before Wrigley became Wrigley," and "Facing Michael Jordan." More about Sean Deveney
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