If Jamison Crowder‘s early camp performance is any indication, he’s going to be a terror out of the slot in 2019. Or, as The Athletic’s Connor Hughes labels him: a “reception animal”
Crowder has always possessed the necessary quicks, hands, and route savvy to thrive inside. With the Jets, he’s found the “Surrounding Talent” and “Coaching Scheme” to squeeze these skills for all their worth.
Most importantly, Crowder’s formed an immediate, strong rapport with Sam Darnold. The pair reportedly “found chemistry the moment they stepped on the field together.” In fact, the budding duo “sees plays the exact same way, which helps them connect when things break down.”
Though only one preseason drive, the Darnold-Crowder connection was apparent. Crowder led the Jets first-team with two targets, which he turned into 31 yards and a score. Their feel for the zone coverage was in-sync on their first connection, allowing Crowder to rip up the field for 28 yards. Crowder then hauled in a perfectly placed ball on his three yard out for the team’s first 2019 TD.
Unsurprisingly, Darnold was effusive in his praise of Crowder and his “clean” routes:
“Jamison’s a great player, he has such a good feel out there,” Darnold said. “On that note, you could tell too, in practice, just the way he runs routes. Some of the option routes that he runs, they’re so clean and, for me, they’re really easy to read.”
Gase also gushed over his new slot maestro, particularly about Crowder’s ability to thrive against both man and zone coverages:
“Any time that you can have a slot get open versus man-to-man like he can, but then he just has great awareness in zones. He fits in this offense well,” head coach Adam Gase said. “He can do all the things that you need him to do and he has something about him. He’s a veteran player that just knows how to get it done for the quarterback.”
This praise is particularly noteworthy with Gase’s history of peppering his slot weapons. In 2017, Jarvis Landry paced the league with 114 catches under Gase, who routinely dialed up YAC chances for his wideouts. Crowder has experienced similar volume in early camp, with Hughes predicting “Crowder creeps near or past 100 catches this season.
“That’s how much Darnold looks to him in practice.”
Health remains a major obstacle, as Crowder missed 7 games last year with an ankle ailment, and has already sat out a few camp sessions. Still, he’s always had the talent, and now has the play-calling and QB-chemistry to be a reception force. Crowder’s an insane bargain at his Round 12+ price tag.
