Many people were excited to see where free agency would take Jamison Crowder, convinced that his lack of production in Washington was due more to Dan Snyder’s perpetual dumpster fire of a franchise than a lack of talent. Crowder drew interest from a handful of teams this offseason, but ultimately chose to sign a 3-year, $28.5 million deal with the Jets. He now teams up with Adam Gase, the Jets new head coach who spent the last three years at the helm of the Dolphins and, before that, served as offensive coordinator in Chicago and Denver. Gase has had a knack in the past for getting big production out of talented slot guys, and Crowder could very well be the next name on that list.
The most recent member of Gase’s slot production club, Jarvis Landry, was a major focal point of Gase’s offense in Miami. In his two seasons working with Gase, Landry averaged 146 targets and 103 receptions per season, including leading the league with a career-high 112 receptions in 2017. At the time, Landry was doing his best impersonation of Wes Welker, who also put up strong numbers while Gase was his OC in Denver. Gase got Welker during the tail end of his career, but still managed to squeeze out 73 catches on 110 targets and a career-high 10 TDs in 2013. This role now belongs to Crowder, who gives about 2 inches and 20 pounds to Landry but makes up for it with greater straight-line speed and his ability to line up all over the field.
Crowder has expressed his excitement about playing with Sam Darnold already, calling him a “great player” and saying he’s “looking forward to him having a big season this year.” And with Le’Veon Bell now signed and some other young receiving talent around him, Crowder may finally be able to break out in the way we’ve all been waiting for. He’s currently The Wolf’s WR48 for 2019, but I anticipate that ranking improving as we approach Week 1.
