After just two regular season games, it’s looking like the Cleveland Browns have aced the top half of the NFL Draft for a second year in a row. 

Offensive linemen Spencer Fano and Austin Barber have arguably been the teams’ best in the trenches, while wide receivers KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston have been as good as advertised in the passing game. 

In the particular case of Concepcion and Boston, their early success has led to one former Pro Bowler being phased out of the gameplan by the rookies.

Jerry Jeudy, who started his Browns’ career with a bang in 2024 earning his only Pro Bowl nod with a 1,229-yard season after being acquired for a fifth- and a sixth-round draft pick from the Broncos, has become somewhat of an afterthought in head coach Todd Monken’s offense. 

After two games, Jeudy has caught two passes for 26 yards, both of them coming during the win in Tampa Bay. 

Meanwhile, the rookies have been shining bright. Concepcion leads all rookies in catches with 10, while Boston leads all rookies in receiving yards with 154 to go along with his team leading two scores. Apart from Concepcion and Boston, three other players have caught more balls from Deshaun Watson this season -- running backs Quinshon Judkins and Raheim Sanders, and tight end Harold Fannin Jr.

Since Fannin led Cleveland in all major receiving categories last year, it’s reasonable to suspect his current stat line of seven catches for 75 yards should see a rise over the next few games. 

That might not be the case for Jeudy, who was targeted just once without a catch during the Week 1 loss to the Jaguars. His current snap count of 61 percent of offensive plays so far in the season is the lowest number of his career, after a 90 percent mark in 2024 and 85 percent mark last year in Cleveland. The Browns are simply not using him at the same rate. 

What’s next for Jerry Jeudy with the Browns?

A conservative answer would be to sit and wait to see if those tendencies change, and Jeudy starts seeing more targets. But the truth of the matter is to the extent that Watson keeps building chemistry with Concepcion and Boston, Jeudy’s numbers might keep going down, even making room for some other youngsters -- Isaiah Bond comes to mind. 

The best scenario would be, no doubt, a trade. Perhaps the Browns could recoup one of those draft picks yielded for him in the first place -- most likely a sixth, and a team currently suffering from wide receiver shortage gets a seventh-year vet on the cheap. 

The 49ers, Packers and Ravens come to mind. 

The NFL trade deadline is still three weeks away, so there’s time to see if Jeudy can pump some life into his numbers. But until then, keeping the lines open for prospective trade partners looks like a good idea in Cleveland.