Jets’ secret weapon43
Crowder can give Darnold a huge boost
The prime directive on One Jets Drive this offseason has been abundantly clear: Give more help to Sam Darnold.
Key decisions in the past few months have been designed to foster a more optimal environment for their young quarterback. Better coaching, better weapons, better protection, better everything.
While Adam Gase and Le’Veon Bell are the headliners to Gang Green’s Make Sam Great campaign, here’s a sneaky good addition: Jamison Crowder.
The former Washington slot receiver’s arrival didn’t generate the same level of buzz, but he’s the kind of player who has the skillset to help Darnold take an important step forward.
“Jamison’s a great asset,” Darnold
said. “I just happened to watch a couple of his games at Duke. He was really, really good in college. I can only imagine how much he’s improved in four years.”
Crowder, who signed a three-year, $28.5 million deal with $17 million in guarantees this offseason, could turn into one of Darnold’s best buddies. He had back-to-back productive seasons in 2016 (67 catches, 847 yards, seven TDs) and 2017 (66 catches, 789 yards, three TDs) before being limited to nine games last season due to an ankle injury.
“He’s a great athlete, first of all,” Darnold said. “He’s super fast, super twitchy. That goes without saying. Just the way that he fills space … On certain option routes, you can tell that he has a really good feel of leverage and how to use it against defenders. I think being able to find him in good matchups against a nickel (corner), a linebacker or even a safety coming down, it’s going to be hard to guard that dude.”
Although Gase believes that Crowder “has some flexibility to do some outside stuff,” he’ll primarily be working inside the numbers. He’ll be an important piece for the new coach, who values slot receivers. Wes Welker racked up 73 receptions and 10 touchdowns in Gase’s record-setting offense with Denver in 2013.
“That spot is important to us,” Gase said. “(It) really kind of creates the tempo of the offense. If you want to be on the ball and go fast-paced, that guy is the guy who moves all the time. (Crowder) has to have that sense of urgency about him. If he’s on the right side, then all of a sudden, he’s on the left side. He has to be aware. He has to constantly be in the game. He has to understand the game like a quarterback does. The best ones I’ve been around, they naturally have that understanding of the flow of the game. They know how to set the tempo of the game. I feel like he’s kind of a guy who fits that role.”
The 5-9, 177-pound Crowder can offer a new dimension to an offense that finished 25th in passing yards, 29th in total yards and 23rd in scoring.
“These guys are the move-thechains guys, the guys that go between the numbers and are tough. They’re fearless,” Gase said of slot receivers. “There has to be an element of fearlessness to you. I think he checks all those boxes. He has something unique … He has an explosiveness after the catch that you don’t see a ton of.”
“A lot of the slot receivers, historically have been not guys that are threats down the field,” Gase continued. “He’s a threat down the field, but at the same time he can catch it and create, which is going to be interesting for us because we’ve never had a guy who can really juice it up.”
Crowder might be exactly what Darnold needs to take his game to the next level.