WP - A closer look at the development of Redskins wide receiver Jamison Crowder

[Bonez3]

Crowder is way more a Wes Welker than Steve Smith. Smith was far more a 'power' receiver, he would be a deep threat with his ability to win fights for the ball.

 

Crowder is going to be slippery. The fact is, I never expect Crowder to run away from the pack. I just expect him to have a half a step on every DB on his routes, which will be slants, fades, option routes, etc. His money in this league is going to made on 3rd down.

[RandyHolt]

Crowds far exceeded my expectations. Ok they were basically nil. But that was because it is very very rare that we draft a WR and he contributes significantly. At all. And closer to never as a rookie. 

 

Sure, he has no break tackle, but neither did Moss. It's not his game, and doesn't matter when he runs great routes and has great hands.  I think a slotted Moss is a better comparable than Smith and Welker. 

 

The coaches clearly love the kid.

[Aireskoi]

Shouldn't really be a concern, that's the nature of that type of WR, no biggie.

 

I agree with that, unless you are looking to add him in fantasy I guess.  I don't play fantasy anymore, so it's fine with me.

 

Hopefully everyone noticed that it was Crowder's QB at Duke that I quoted when I brought up the Steve Smith comparison, you could make a comparison to plenty of players.  I thought the Steve Smith comparison fit enough to post it.

 

Is He Steve Smith 2.0?

At the Duke pro day, his College QB, Anthony Boone, told reporters that Crowder has a little Steve Smith in him. That he plays with an edge about him, but that he is quiet and does not talk a lot.  So maybe he’ll turn into an evolved Steve Smith.  One that fits Carolina's locker room.  But let’s face it, he has a long ways to go to be truly be able to be mentioned in the same category as Smitty.  However, I do see him as a better prospect than 89 was coming out of Utah.  The rest is up to Crowder and how good he wants to be. 

 

Obviously for Panther fans Steve Smith is who you would think of at 5'8 with some toughness and playmaking ability.  We'll have to see how he develops his body over the next few years.  He could stay on the lean side, or I think he could add 10-15 lbs of muscle without losing his quickness.  

 

Either way he should get some very good matchups on teams 3rd or 4th corners, or even safeties and lb'ers if they get cute.  

 

 

We have the same first name, so I'm in his corner. Ols

 

Doug Williams referred to him as 'Jamie' Crowder, and that's my first name. 

[daveakl]

And his initials are J.C.

[Koolblue13]

I grew up going by Jami, until my friend married a girl named Jamie. I was bartending at the time, so it went to Jamison and has stayed there.

I know. Absolutely fascinating.

[skins island connection]

 One thing this team needs is players who can get separation, even if its only for a few seconds; that's all it takes and usually all most players can get. If Crowder has good separation, coupled with decent/good hands, then he shouldn't have a prob working into the line-up.

 

 Players like that tend to have a chip on their shoulder, since they know they are small compared to other players so they tend to make up for it in explosive plays.

 

Size with Doc

Big play ability in Jackson

Possession ability in Garcon

Separation ability in Crowder

Playmaking TEs in Reed, Paul, Paulsen, Davis??

This could be a very potent offense if the running game/play calling doesn't become predictable.

[RandyHolt]

I contend unpredictable play calling is what got us into the playoffs. McVay presumed gets the credit. It was hardly rocket science stuff, but it was a change away from our very predictable run first offense, of what seems like the past 30 years.

 

My point, we didn't need a run game, because we passed when the world expected us to run.  In 1983 "run" downs.  We made the playoffs with almost no run game, because we finally stopped trying to be a running team. 

 

Circling back OT, if we become a largely pass first team, we can still get our runs in... second.  I would like to see Crowder get touches on 1st down, and try to be featured a bit more. I want to see him on the field in more than 3rd and longs.

 

But it starts with recognizing this teams strength, and it remains at... hands.  WR, and hands TE - Reed. I would love to see 4 or 5 wide to open the season.  How Crowder does this year, depends on how McJay play calls. Scot wants to power/run, but it wasn't us last year, and it hasn't been us for some time now. Will we stick with what failed us vs GB?  Calling a conservative offense to keep an opposition QB off the field, fails more often than it succeeds. OK, I think.

[DC9]

I think he's more like a smaller Jarvis Landry, and that will be just fine. Smith had elite speed and incredible physicality at the catch point...Crowder hasn't exhibited either of those qualities yet.

 

Didn't he catch a tough one in between the zone for a touchdown against the Bills?  Maybe it was the Bucs.

 

He's a tough kid.

 

And then he made that circus catch where I think we all thought he tore all of the ligaments vs the Bears, I think it was.

 

Kids certainly tough at the point of catching the football, but I'll agree with you on the speed part.  Doc Walker always calls him a burner, and sure he's fast compared to us, but he's not an NFL burner.

 

I love him just the same, though.  He's kind of the epitome of the kind of player is organization is out to get.

[Conn]

With no FB, questionable RB's, 4 good WR's and respectable depth behind them, and multiple TE's that can split out wide, we'd be dumb not to spread defenses out and just let Kirk find the open man.

[DC9]

Oops, it was against the Saints.

 

Grown up throw and catch here.  Crowder had my blessing after this one.  REALLY tough catch and he took it like a man.

 

:20 mark of this video.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1odk2LHHRs[/video]

With no FB, questionable RB's, 4 good WR's and respectable depth behind them, and multiple TE's that can split out wide, we'd be dumb not to spread defenses out and just let Kirk find the open man.

 

New England was 18th in the League in rushing when they won their last Super Bowl.

 

Remember how they just forced it to Blount in the Super Bowl?

 

It can be done, it's more difficult but it can be done.

 

And if this offense plays any where near it's potential, and the defense gets a lead to protect, there will be plenty of opportunities for us to "practice" running the football in the 2nd halves of games this season.  We should improve as the season goes on. 

I contend unpredictable play calling is what got us into the playoffs. McVay presumed gets the credit. It was hardly rocket science stuff, but it was a change away from our very predictable run first offense, of what seems like the past 30 years.

 

To be fair, most of the "good teams" in the NFL run very simple stuff.  Their players are just better.

 

We're getting better players and our "X's and O's" are beating the other team's "X's and O's," so the simple stuff will work.

[Conn]

Yup, great point. Saw McCarthy say that after he gave up play calling duties to an OC they got away from perfecting the basic, simple plays and winning their match ups man vs. man and became too focused on out-scheming defenses and winning that way. He took back play calling duties and now they're simplifying it all again.

Which for the Packers means spending a 2nd-3rd round pick on a WR/TE every single year and just letting Rodgers run for his life until he finds one open...but still.

[RandyHolt]

And, simply going to hurry up the moment a defense thinks it can get a traditional nose onto the field.

 

Indeed it is a simple concept, but one that many teams refuse to try to employ.

 

But yeah, when a team is vastly superior to its opponent on the personnel front; agreed the coach just needs to get out of the way. Keep it simple.

[DC9]

And, simply going to hurry up the moment a defense thinks it can get a traditional nose onto the field.

 

Indeed it is a simple concept, but one that many teams refuse to try to employ.

 

But yeah, when a team is vastly superior to its opponent on the personnel front; agreed the coach just needs to get out of the way. Keep it simple.

 

I'm tired of that excuse.

 

We weren't good enough all-around.  Hopefully we're better for it.

 

Go Crowder.

[The X-Factor]

How is he going to develop this year being the fifth option behind Garcon, Jackson, Docston, and Reed?  My concern after drafting Docston was the reduced role Crowder was going to get this year after coming off a pretty good rookie year for a 5th rounder.

[SkinsFTW]

How is he going to develop this year being the fifth option behind Garcon, Jackson, Docston, and Reed?  My concern after drafting Docston was the reduced role Crowder was going to get this year after coming off a pretty good rookie year for a 5th rounder.

If he has 25-30 catches and a TD or 2 then he will have a pretty good 2nd year for a 5th rounder too.

[Conn]

How is he going to develop this year being the fifth option behind Garcon, Jackson, Docston, and Reed? My concern after drafting Docston was the reduced role Crowder was going to get this year after coming off a pretty good rookie year for a 5th rounder.

Think he's going to get plenty of slot action. Assuming nobody gets hurt (which is an unlikely outcome, realistically) I think you're going to see Garcon coming off the field sometimes between the 20's for Doctson, simply because we don't have a slot as good as Crowder (that's basically his role alone) and we don't have anyone who can do what Desean does reliably. And then in the RZ you're likely to see more TE's and Doctson. But really there are so many potential combos and not enough balls to go around, so I'm sure our WR's reception totals will vary wildly from game to game, depending on game plan and situation. If our defense is good, there will be less balls to go around. If Cousins is completing 28+ passes a game out of necessity, well all of a sudden there's a lot of balls to go around. And if our running game doesn't get off the ground, we'll be throwing more regardless of how the defense is playing. Lots of ways this could go.

The great thing is that nobody will care about stats if we're winning, and you don't have to catch balls to develop as a young WR. Starting next year Crowder is going to get a LOT more run, so I wouldn't worry about it at all.

[DC9]

How is he going to develop this year being the fifth option behind Garcon, Jackson, Docston, and Reed?  My concern after drafting Docston was the reduced role Crowder was going to get this year after coming off a pretty good rookie year for a 5th rounder.

 

I thing it's assuming a lot that Doctson is going to get time early outside of packages for him.

 

Maybe he'll eat more snaps later in the year, but WRs take some time to develop.  I think will handle Doctson with kid gloves early, especially given the injury issues he is having.

 

A ****ing tooth?

 

Crowder is going to get his opportunities, and he'll need to remain the slot guy as that's likely the plan for him going forward.  I think we'll re-up with DJax and not Garcon next year (depending on how this season goes, of course) and then it'll sort itself out after Jackson is gone.

[abdcskins]

Crowder can ball. Just strictly off the eye test, the man has great hands and incredible quickness. I mentioned a couple of times last year that he reminds me of Antonio Brown.

[Koolblue13]

Steve Smith

Antonio Brown

Jarvis Landry

Edelman

Amendola

McCardell

 

Even a Gary Clarck reference.

 

Then put into the Holt/Harrison sentence.

 

Am I missing anyone?

 

I'm just happy we have a tough and shifty dude, that Kirk trusts, to run the slot. Should be good for 50 rec a year for 10 years and that's great.

[goskins10]

Steve Smith

Antonio Brown

Jarvis Landry

Edelman

Amendola

McCardell

 

Even a Gary Clarck reference.

 

Then put into the Holt/Harrison sentence.

 

Am I missing anyone?

 

I'm just happy we have a tough and shifty dude, that Kirk trusts, to run the slot. Should be good for 50 rec a year for 10 years and that's great.

 

Since we are making a list - :-)   I will add one - Steve Largent but I believe a bit faster. Nothing flashy, just gets open and makes plays.

 

It's slow, I am really ready for TC! and then the season!   HTTR!!

[Mr. Sinister]

No way Crowder will be the fifth option (at least in terms of targets). Too valuable on third down. Doctson seems to be a shoe-in for that at this point with all the time he's missed.

[SkinsGuy]

No way Crowder will be the fifth option (at least in terms of targets). Too valuable on third down. Doctson seems to be a shoe-in for that at this point with all the time he's missed.

 

Agreed.

 

Those that think Docston will be in front of Crowder to start the season are kidding themselves.

 

Docston hasn't even done that much practicing yet. Crowder is a far more polished player.

 

Unless Docston really WOWS during preseason, Crowder will be the #3 WR and the #4 pass catcher.

[Conn]

Agreed. Doctson will probably start seeing most of his snaps in the RZ early on...and as a decoy at that since bringing him on the field then is so obvious.

[Koolblue13]

I'm just excited to see Reed, Davis and Paul together at the same time. If one of our backs really steps up, that 3TE set is going to be ****ing brutal to stop. Then add DJax and pull a safety out of the box.

[Aireskoi]

Crowder talks about his best moment as a Rookie:

 

http://www.redskins.com/media-gallery/videos/Jamison-Crowders-Favorite-Moment-As-A-Rookie/472517fc-c5ce-4475-9a43-c13bf3735650

 

 

Then there's some fantasy talk for Jamison, like stated in posts above, he's probably not going to be the guy to pick for fantasy football, at least the way it looks at this point:

 

Sophomore WR study, part 3: Wild Cards

http://www.nfl.com/fantasyfootball/story/0ap3000000671304/article/sophomore-wr-study-part-3-wild-cards

 

He quietly had a very successful rookie campaign, finishing second among first-year receivers in catches with 59. He became a safety blanket for Kirk Cousins operating out of the slot, but the reason he is listed as a "Wild Card" is simply because he's now part of a very crowded pass-catching corps (that he claims is the best in the league). When Jordan Reed, DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garçon were on the field together last year (eight games), they commanded nearly 62 percent of all the passing targets, and now first-round draft pick Josh Doctson is entering the fray as well.