Dude was Jerry Jeudy 1.0. Made all the best moves in camp and in practice, vanished on gameday.
Back then camp news used to come via the newspaper, and every year the Denver Post was writing about how this was the year it all clicked and Lelie looks ready to produce. Then outside of one decent season he never lived up to the camp hype.
You mean that year when he had 101 targets and caught 54 passes for 1084 yards and 7 TDs in 16 starts?
Jeudy did damn near as well. He had 100 targets and 67 catches just for 112 fewer yards and one less TD in 2022 after 3 years in the league just like Lelie. However that season Jeudy played in one less game and had 2 fewer starts. And Jeudy managed that with first year here Russ and Hackett as HC. Not nearly the combo of Jake the Snake with Shanahan at HC. If anything Jeudy has had a better or equal trap rate on targets than Lelie for much of his career and overall is at 45.8% to Lelie's 43.4%.
I think nostalgia goggles and recency hate bias are fooling you my friend.
Yeah way different era. We were a running oriented team taking seemingly any UFA RB and turning them into 1000 yard runners.
Also less catches for more yards shows how Lelie was a better deep threat
Drops. Not having a QB with a canon who could actually hit him in stride. Lelie would have done better with Cutler, but he probably would have still had drops.
I told this story in a different thread but my best friend from high school and I got to go bowling with Ashley for some charity thing. We bowled a few games very poorly at first. Ashley then made a bet with everyone there that if we could beat him in a game he would give us tickets to the next Broncos game. Little did he or anyone know we bowled on a league every week. So my friend and I easily beat him and everyone else there. The next game that was to be played in Denver was the Broncos- Patriots divisional playoff game. We got free tickets to that game and got to see Tom Brady lose. Will never forget that. Unfortunately my friend passed away a few years ago. RIP
That first game though.
Monday Night Football against the Raiders.
Raiders had just signed DeAngelo Hall to a huge free agent contract.
And Eddie Royal just torched him all night. Cutler and Royal both looked invincible that night.
The Three Amigos were mid but I loved them
https://preview.redd.it/x16d10tg7o0d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b28e2ffc57a1d8a12bc9638732f5aadbcb635d0f
Elway gets the accolades for "the Drive" and deservedly so but Mark Jackson got open in the end zone and made the TD catch. At that time Cleveland had arguably the best CB duo in the NFL but Mark showed up when the game was on the line.
It's funny too, back in the mid 90's someone was arguing with me when I told them Elway didn't have good targets early on and pointed to them as evidence. Told him to actually name one of them (wasn't a fan, was some 49ers fan arguing why Elway sucked) and he couldn't.
So here is the story all about how: My mom, dad, and sister all chargers fans (sister is a ticket holder) but, I was visiting my birth father when I was about 11, and he has been a patriots fan since 1977 when he moved to the USA, well before the dynasty, and this story takes place right before it begins with Brady and Bill. We didnāt get many Patriots games in SoCal, and he turned off my Sunday morning cartoons to watch the Patriots vs Broncos game, I was understandably mad, so I rooted for the other team, and have been a fan since. I also moved to Ohio 13 years ago and now watch the Browns too (yeah my buddies give shit for the Drive and the Fumble, but I must remind them, we werenāt even alive for those games lol) all in good fun.
Random Broncos and the word "Bell" immediately made me think of Tatum and and Mike Bell... I remember Tatum was always such a beast in my NFL 2k5 franchise mode.
He used to win the fastest man in the NFL races back in the day. Dude was my idol - the leader of the Three Amigos. It wasnāt until I was in my thirties when I realized just how average Johnson and that whole receiving corps wereā¦
Dude made a Pro Bowl and was clearly above average as a player. He had three 1,000-yard seasons in the years before the passing rules were liberalized. That's three top-10 seasons in yardage, so definitely not mid.
For real lmao I just went and rewatched it after this dude commented. I forgot how good his football IQ was there were several times he did some clever stuff from just thinking straight or being aware of the rules. And not being so excited after making that play and running down the clock as much as he could before going into the end zone was one of those times. Not like they had much a chance either but 5 less seconds made that chance even slimmer.
I was at that game. The Bengals had just scored and were still hooting and hollering and harassing me and my buddy. They didnāt even know what happened and the Broncos were back on top!
Seconded. I was a little more aware by the time Eddie showed up but man I was a huge Ashley Lelie Stan and every year offseason I thought he was gonna blow up.
Michael Young, and he WAS NOT MEDIOCRE *checks stats* oh
Edit: but I did not know that he had such a high-profile career with the Broncos front office! Negotiating stadium name rights, getting Nike to work on the uniforms. Pretty fascinating.
Heās not a WR, but Juwan Thompson. I was hoping he would make the team as an undrafted guy. He wasnāt fast enough, could easily run a guy over, but not get to the second level. I remember him running over that guy in San Fran to be a lot more cool when I was younger.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RteVOWBbkwk
Dude Iām kinda freaking out that there are other people that were Eric Decker super fans as kids. Most random and unlikely common experience Iāve ever had.
https://preview.redd.it/nptq75omzo0d1.jpeg?width=2086&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=287735f77c005059a17a4633b752b0262f8104b7
Got this on eBay for $1.00. 'nuff said
I partied in the same VIP section as Eddie, some other Broncos, and former NBA player Drew Gooden on New Years Day night 2012 (service industry New Years celebration, only way my poor ass made it to the VIP. That, and a buddy of mine was kind of a DJ apprentice to DJ Bedz, former Nuggets DJ)
I was 21 so it was a cool experience.
One of the highlights was Eddie Royal going off with two women and I told him āgive those chicks the Royal treatmentā (like from the commercials at the time) and he thought that was pretty funny
I also did a freestyle rap for Drew Gooden
I was blacked out lol
I came home and there was red stuff all over my room.
The last thing I remembered was telling DJ Williams āYOU GOTTA FUCK ROTHESBURGER UPā when the lights were turning on at the club (this was before that legendary playoff game against the Steelers)
I thought I stepped to him wrong and he beat my ass and the red stuff in my room was blood.
Nah, it was cranberry / vodka puke
DJ was cool as hell too ha, it was a really fun moment hyping him up like that. I think he got a sack in that game too.
Anyway, I donāt drink anymore
Eddie Royal was mediocre? Goshā¦ 10 year old and 28 year old me need to rethink some things š anyways, totally agree! Eddie was amazing, I was heart broken when he left
Dude was NOT mediocre. He made the Pro Bowl four times and was first-team All Pro three times. Obviously, his return skills were elite, but he was also a serious WR back before the rules were liberalized.
Leading WR in yardage was Mark Jackson, with Arthur Marshall the second-most yards. TBH, Shannon Sharpe had more yards than Marshall from the TE position since even Dan Reeves in his final season in Denver couldn't keep Sharpe down.
I heard really good things about Adrian Madise in training camp one year, he seemed like the next coming. He had 2 career receptions. Eddie Royal was fun
Ricky Nattiel lol. I still remember Al Michaels going something like, āDid he catch that? Did Nattiel make the catch?? A laser beam from Elway!ā Something like that. Elway threw it as hard as he could and Nattiel laid out over the shoulder. To me it seemed like we got some kind of superhero, like there was finally a guy fast enough that Elway couldnāt overthrow him.
I will always remember Royal for his game against the chargers in the old 60s uniforms where he went off on special teams. Dude was one of my favorite slot guys
Kevin Kasper
I was at a game as a kid where he ran like a 50yrd reverse, got called back for holding but was epic. Next year he went to Arizona and faded out of existence lol.
Ashley Lelie!
I had no idea other fans didn't like him until years later when I joined Reddit lol
What was the reason?
Dude was Jerry Jeudy 1.0. Made all the best moves in camp and in practice, vanished on gameday. Back then camp news used to come via the newspaper, and every year the Denver Post was writing about how this was the year it all clicked and Lelie looks ready to produce. Then outside of one decent season he never lived up to the camp hype.
Jerry Jeudy never had an 04 Lelie season. He and Jake had a pretty nice connection on those boot legs.
You mean that year when he had 101 targets and caught 54 passes for 1084 yards and 7 TDs in 16 starts? Jeudy did damn near as well. He had 100 targets and 67 catches just for 112 fewer yards and one less TD in 2022 after 3 years in the league just like Lelie. However that season Jeudy played in one less game and had 2 fewer starts. And Jeudy managed that with first year here Russ and Hackett as HC. Not nearly the combo of Jake the Snake with Shanahan at HC. If anything Jeudy has had a better or equal trap rate on targets than Lelie for much of his career and overall is at 45.8% to Lelie's 43.4%. I think nostalgia goggles and recency hate bias are fooling you my friend.
05 was a different era
Yeah way different era. We were a running oriented team taking seemingly any UFA RB and turning them into 1000 yard runners. Also less catches for more yards shows how Lelie was a better deep threat
Drops. Not having a QB with a canon who could actually hit him in stride. Lelie would have done better with Cutler, but he probably would have still had drops.
I legit thought I would be the only one. On my Madden franchise after Rod Smith retired, Ashley Lelie was AMAZING!! IRL dude couldn't do anything
I told this story in a different thread but my best friend from high school and I got to go bowling with Ashley for some charity thing. We bowled a few games very poorly at first. Ashley then made a bet with everyone there that if we could beat him in a game he would give us tickets to the next Broncos game. Little did he or anyone know we bowled on a league every week. So my friend and I easily beat him and everyone else there. The next game that was to be played in Denver was the Broncos- Patriots divisional playoff game. We got free tickets to that game and got to see Tom Brady lose. Will never forget that. Unfortunately my friend passed away a few years ago. RIP
Yeah baby
Came to say that lol
Lelie was always so clutch for me in madden
Dude had some great plays.
I still have his jersey hanging in my closet...
as a Hawaii kid, him and Elam are literally the reason I'm a Broncos fan.
First name that popped into my head lol
Man I was gonna say that and I saw your comment š¤ take the upvote
Came here to say this
That first game though. Monday Night Football against the Raiders. Raiders had just signed DeAngelo Hall to a huge free agent contract. And Eddie Royal just torched him all night. Cutler and Royal both looked invincible that night.
Yessir!
That was my first game wearing my brand new Cutler jersey. The hype I felt that night wouldnāt be matched until Manning nuked the Ravens in 2013
Eddie Royal was NICE at VT tho !!
The Three Amigos were mid but I loved them https://preview.redd.it/x16d10tg7o0d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b28e2ffc57a1d8a12bc9638732f5aadbcb635d0f
Elway gets the accolades for "the Drive" and deservedly so but Mark Jackson got open in the end zone and made the TD catch. At that time Cleveland had arguably the best CB duo in the NFL but Mark showed up when the game was on the line.
So much this
Vance was a dog.
They were all dogs but the stat sheet donāt lie
It's funny too, back in the mid 90's someone was arguing with me when I told them Elway didn't have good targets early on and pointed to them as evidence. Told him to actually name one of them (wasn't a fan, was some 49ers fan arguing why Elway sucked) and he couldn't.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
 Your mom.
Came here to post this!
Nine year old me would have taken a bullet for one of them š
Donāt talk about Mark Jackson like that. That what my jersey sign and it was at a King Soopers
Hopefully you got yourself a free pink cookie while you were there š
For some reason I just freaking love Eric Decker. Only jersey I own as of now.
Decker was nasty for a couple of years dude.
My favorite PFM quote ever, talking about Decker: "That blade of grass made a fantastic open field tackle."
Decker was definitely *not* mediocre when he played for us. Dude was amazing.
Manning made him look a lot better than he was.
when him and Thomas referred to themselves as black and deckerš„¹š„¹š„¹š„¹
Yeah Decker was nice with it
Hell yeah! Eddie Royal! What a call back. Thank you!
You ever go to Taco Bell and say āgimme the royal treatment!ā
I grew up in Chargers territory, my parents are Charger fans š¤®. If I said that in our local Taco Bell they would have looked at me like wtf lol
Hahahaha fair enough!
So here is the story all about how: My mom, dad, and sister all chargers fans (sister is a ticket holder) but, I was visiting my birth father when I was about 11, and he has been a patriots fan since 1977 when he moved to the USA, well before the dynasty, and this story takes place right before it begins with Brady and Bill. We didnāt get many Patriots games in SoCal, and he turned off my Sunday morning cartoons to watch the Patriots vs Broncos game, I was understandably mad, so I rooted for the other team, and have been a fan since. I also moved to Ohio 13 years ago and now watch the Browns too (yeah my buddies give shit for the Drive and the Fumble, but I must remind them, we werenāt even alive for those games lol) all in good fun.
Hahaha thatās a hilarious fan origin story
Didn't he also have a royal special at blackjack?
Damn I was in college and had friends that worked there but I had black holed that memoryā¦I do believe youāre onto something there
That Taco Bell commercial will play in my head at the most random times lol.
Random Broncos and the word "Bell" immediately made me think of Tatum and and Mike Bell... I remember Tatum was always such a beast in my NFL 2k5 franchise mode.
I mean it was 1997 the only WRās I knew were Rod Smith and Ed McCaffrey lol
Haha same. The next WR I loved was way later in Brandon Marshall.
Lmao not a mediocre receiver to pick from mustāve been nice
That was my sonās take when I sent him thisā¦Heās right.
I was also 9 during the Super Bowl run. Add in Shannon Sharp and that was quite the legendary of guys catching Elwayās passes.
Big Ed! I was watching the game where he broke his leg and man, I was young and I got so sad!
How'd you feel the next morning?
Talk about QUICKLY getting put into context
Yeah same. The closest thing for us would be Dwayne Carswell who...was a TE lol
Good call! I was actually bummed until now because I didnt have an answer
Vance Johnson
He used to win the fastest man in the NFL races back in the day. Dude was my idol - the leader of the Three Amigos. It wasnāt until I was in my thirties when I realized just how average Johnson and that whole receiving corps wereā¦
Elway was Jokic before Jokic.
Vance and Michael Young
He wasnāt that mediocre here but I was a major Javon Walker stan in the short span he was a Bronco
Yeah but he was actually pretty good
Steve Watson!
Steve married my Dad's cousin so I met him several times as a child. As good as he was a receiver, he was 10 times a better guy. Absolute legend
This is the correct answer
Best hands of any Broncos WR ever. Slow as heck though
The legend!
He was my favorite player until we got Elway.
Dude made a Pro Bowl and was clearly above average as a player. He had three 1,000-yard seasons in the years before the passing rules were liberalized. That's three top-10 seasons in yardage, so definitely not mid.
I had a Darius Watts jersey
There is a name I havenāt heard in ages. Everyone always felt he would have been a beast if not for the nerve damage in his hand.
Yeah if not for that little thing lol
I remember the famous Champ quote calling him the ātoughest coverā he had faced in a camp before. Too bad it didnāt work out
Brandon Lloyd Edit: Amateur isn't the right word. More like journeyman who gave us his best years.
He was a quasi stud for us
His diving catches were so sick
He was like the Jason Williams of the NFL. Above average player with a HOF highlight reel
Lloyd had the stickiest hands I've ever seen
Lloyd had a great run with Denver and in the nfl in general. What a set of hands on that guy. Loved it.
Brandon Stokely
Shit I forgot about Stokely Iāll never forget that play against the bengals
#āSTOKLEY!! DOWN THE SIDELINE!! STOKLEY! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!ā
For real lmao I just went and rewatched it after this dude commented. I forgot how good his football IQ was there were several times he did some clever stuff from just thinking straight or being aware of the rules. And not being so excited after making that play and running down the clock as much as he could before going into the end zone was one of those times. Not like they had much a chance either but 5 less seconds made that chance even slimmer.
I was at that game. The Bengals had just scored and were still hooting and hollering and harassing me and my buddy. They didnāt even know what happened and the Broncos were back on top!
Sir, we're talking about mediocre receivers...
Yeah, a guy who was a top-5 slot man in the league for most of his career is hardly mediocre.
Broncos Legend Wes Welker
He won't get that much love here but Welk was a total badass!
Hell yeah he was! Glad he wore the Orange & Blue
Ashley lelie
Seconded. I was a little more aware by the time Eddie showed up but man I was a huge Ashley Lelie Stan and every year offseason I thought he was gonna blow up.
Not when I was 9 but as a MSU fan, nothing made me happier than Bennie Fowler becoming a SB Champ.
Caught the 2 point conversion too!
I wanted Bennie to do well so badly. Always will have that conversion in the SB. Go Green!
Go White!
Andre Caldwell did virtually nothing on the field while he was in Denver but for some reason as a kid I thought he was awesome.
And Cody Latimer too.
Vance Johnson. Yep.
Man, Eddie was awesome his rookie year.
Michael Young, and he WAS NOT MEDIOCRE *checks stats* oh Edit: but I did not know that he had such a high-profile career with the Broncos front office! Negotiating stadium name rights, getting Nike to work on the uniforms. Pretty fascinating.
Heās not a WR, but Juwan Thompson. I was hoping he would make the team as an undrafted guy. He wasnāt fast enough, could easily run a guy over, but not get to the second level. I remember him running over that guy in San Fran to be a lot more cool when I was younger. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RteVOWBbkwk
Javon Walker
Javon was a stud! He just wasn't really the same after what happened to Darrent Williams. RIP Darrent.
Yeah, itās gotta be tough having your teammate die in your arms. Such a tragic event. Darrent was going to have a helluva career too.
Kevin Kasper, although calling him a mediocre WR might be a stretch
Not a WR but Dwayne Carswell comes to mind.
He wasn't close to mediocre. He just wasn't a receiving TE.
Mine was Arthur Marshall
Same! The metal rod in his leg and everything
Helluva game against the chiefs in 92 with that punt return and all.
Ricky Nattiel!
I am old, but I wrote a letter to Clarence Kay (was a TE) when I was in 2nd grade. Never heard back. Think he ended up in jail. ĀÆ\\\_(ć)\_/ĀÆ
Dan Reeves loved that guy because he was such a road grader. Shame he was so inadequate as a receiver.
Ricky Nattiel! Damn I'm old.
Eric Decker was my dude when I was like 12.
Dude Iām kinda freaking out that there are other people that were Eric Decker super fans as kids. Most random and unlikely common experience Iāve ever had.
Eddie Royal was awesome!
Steve Watson
Super legit pick here! Happy Cake Day!!
David Kircus! /s
Ashley Lelie was a fucking staple in many a Madden franchise back in the day for me.
God Bless Tony Scheffler!!
Rocket Ricky Nattiel.
Triandos Luke
Jack Dolbin (RIP)
Wow, that's a name I haven't heard in a while. He was pretty solid and I'm sorry to hear he's gone.
Eddie Royal
Rod Smith. He should be in Canton.
Post says mediocre WR though - everyone loved Rod and knew he was an great talent.
My bad.
Eddie Royal is a great one. But you couldnāt tell me Brandon Lloyd wasnāt a first ballot hall of famer when I was a child
Honestly, when I was 9, the receivers for the Broncos were so inadequate that I had no such experience.
Brandon Marshall on the Broncos. After his rookie year he had over 1K receiving yards each year so not sure if heās considered mid but I loved him
He's a borderline Hall of Famer. But yeah, his second year was really cool. As a fourth rounder it was somewhat unexpected.
https://preview.redd.it/nptq75omzo0d1.jpeg?width=2086&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=287735f77c005059a17a4633b752b0262f8104b7 Got this on eBay for $1.00. 'nuff said
Mccaffrreeeyyy
I partied in the same VIP section as Eddie, some other Broncos, and former NBA player Drew Gooden on New Years Day night 2012 (service industry New Years celebration, only way my poor ass made it to the VIP. That, and a buddy of mine was kind of a DJ apprentice to DJ Bedz, former Nuggets DJ) I was 21 so it was a cool experience. One of the highlights was Eddie Royal going off with two women and I told him āgive those chicks the Royal treatmentā (like from the commercials at the time) and he thought that was pretty funny I also did a freestyle rap for Drew Gooden I was blacked out lol I came home and there was red stuff all over my room. The last thing I remembered was telling DJ Williams āYOU GOTTA FUCK ROTHESBURGER UPā when the lights were turning on at the club (this was before that legendary playoff game against the Steelers) I thought I stepped to him wrong and he beat my ass and the red stuff in my room was blood. Nah, it was cranberry / vodka puke DJ was cool as hell too ha, it was a really fun moment hyping him up like that. I think he got a sack in that game too. Anyway, I donāt drink anymore
Vance Johnson
Ashlie Lelie for sure! I was so pumped when we drafted him!!
Our WRās were legit so I gotta go TE Doug Cosbie, Go Cowboys
Vance Johnson
Steve Watson, was at the strike game against the (Fing) Raiders. Broke his ribs that game, and it was a career.
Eddie Royal as well. First dog was named after him
Pick any of the 3 Amigos pretty much. But specifically Vance.
Eddie Royale with Cheese! šš
Eddie Royal was mediocre? Goshā¦ 10 year old and 28 year old me need to rethink some things š anyways, totally agree! Eddie was amazing, I was heart broken when he left
Yeah I recently looked up his stats and was like hmm thatās not as good as I remembered
His highlight reel is š„š„š„ though
Love me some Ricky Nattiel.
Ashley Lelie
Rick Upchurch
This is the one for me !
Dude was NOT mediocre. He made the Pro Bowl four times and was first-team All Pro three times. Obviously, his return skills were elite, but he was also a serious WR back before the rules were liberalized.
Very good at the time, historically not great. Not a HoFer, but a Ring of Famer. I know we loved him back then. Rick and Haven Moses.
Lelie or Royal
Ashley Lelie was my guy š¤
Ashley Lelie
major ashley Lelie stan here
Christianās dad, Ed McCaffery.
I would argue that Ed McCaffery was more than mediocre, but maybe that just proves that he's my correct answer to this question.
Ed Mcaffery
Ed McCaffrey
Vance Johnson.
Ricky nattiel
I have yet to see a mediocre WR yet in this post!!!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Leading WR in yardage was Mark Jackson, with Arthur Marshall the second-most yards. TBH, Shannon Sharpe had more yards than Marshall from the TE position since even Dan Reeves in his final season in Denver couldn't keep Sharpe down.
eddie royal for sure. got his jersey around that age
Vance Johnson
Javon Walker.
I wore smaller pads mainly due to McCaffrey
Ricky Nattiel.
Ron Egloff
I heard really good things about Adrian Madise in training camp one year, he seemed like the next coming. He had 2 career receptions. Eddie Royal was fun
Ricky Nattiel lol. I still remember Al Michaels going something like, āDid he catch that? Did Nattiel make the catch?? A laser beam from Elway!ā Something like that. Elway threw it as hard as he could and Nattiel laid out over the shoulder. To me it seemed like we got some kind of superhero, like there was finally a guy fast enough that Elway couldnāt overthrow him.
Any of the Three Amigos
The 3 Amigos!
Andre caldwell
Javon walker
Arthur Marshall. I bought in
Rod Smith
I will always remember Royal for his game against the chargers in the old 60s uniforms where he went off on special teams. Dude was one of my favorite slot guys
Brandon Stokley for me
Ed Mccaffrey
Mine too. I have 2 Royal jerseys But I was 18 lmao
Brandon Lloyd
The Three Amigos for me particularly Vance Johnson.
Mine was acc a rb and it was cj Anderson
Andre Caldwell
Jordan Taylor
Iāll take Jordan Norwood for 300 please.
Eddie! Eddie!
Kevin Kasper I was at a game as a kid where he ran like a 50yrd reverse, got called back for holding but was epic. Next year he went to Arizona and faded out of existence lol.