2017 Fantasy Football Breakout Candidate: Jamison Crowder

WR Jamison Crowder | Washington Redskins | 3rd Year
2016 Stats: 67 receptions, 847 yards, 7 touchdowns

After a solid rookie season, with 59 receptions (78 targets) for 604 yards, Washington Redskins wide receiver Jamison Crowder improved across the board last season (67 catches-97 targets, 847 yards and seven touchdowns). DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon are gone in free agency, along with their 216 targets from last season, and even with the additions of Terrelle Pryor and Brian Quick Crowder is in line for a bigger role.

JP Finlay of CSN Mid-Atlantic has speculated that “this should be the year” Crowder reaches 1,000 yards. With the possibility of more snaps, is Crowder in line for that kind of third-year breakout?

Crowder has played 71 percent of Washington’s offensive snaps over his first two seasons, mostly as a third receiver out of the slot (as noted by Finlay). But head coach Jay Gruden has not ruled out an expanded role for Crowder, suggesting a “mix and match” of receivers in two-receiver sets and an attempt to keep Crowder on the field as much as possible.

Crowder averaged 6.1 targets per game in 2016, and that number would surely rise in line with an increased snap count in 2017. A dramatic rise into the upper echelon of target leaders league-wide can’t necessarily be expected, to 9-10 targets per game, but it’s not out of the question either. Despite not having the size that would suggest it (5-foot-8, 182 pounds), Crowder has had 29 red zone targets over two seasons. So last year’s upward spike in touchdowns, from two as a rookie in 2015, may have been a product of better efficiency and not a fluke.

Pryor, and his more prototypical size for that area of the field, should take away red zone targets from Crowder in a fashion Jackson and Garcon simply didn’t. But a finish as a WR2 in standard scoring leagues is well within reach, with low-end WR1 upside for Crowder in PPR leagues.

2017 Projection: 90 receptions, 1,055 yards, 7 touchdowns

Breakout Percentage

60%

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