Adam Gase brags on explosive, fearless Jamison Crowder

New York Jets head coach Adam Gase isn’t hiding his excitement over new free agent addition Jamison Crowder.

While the tight end has long been referred to as a quarterback’s security blanket, today’s NFL has developed a similar role for the slot receiver. But while many of the league’s better slot receivers are possession-type pass-catchers who excel at simply moving the chains and giving the quarterback a reliable target on shorter routes or in the middle of the field, the New York Jets believe they’ve added a more complex weapon in Jamison Crowder.

One of the Jets’ biggest additions in free agency, Crowder heads to the Big Apple after four highly productive seasons with the Washington Redskins.

Crowder’s explosiveness and ability to stretch the field for big plays are traits new Jets head coach Adam Gase is clearly excited about (via Ethan Greenberg, newyorkjets.com):

I think he has something unique as far as he has an explosiveness after the catch that you don’t see. A lot of slot players, historically, have not been guys that are threats down the field. He’s actually a threat down the field, but at the same time, he can catch it and create, which is going to be interesting for us. We’ve never had a guy that really can juice it up like he can.

Gase explained further how much his offense demands of the slot receiver, and it’s clear he believes Crowder checks every box in terms of what he’s looking for from that spot:

That spot is important for us. It really creates the tempo of the offense. If you want to be on the ball, go fast paced, that guy is the guy that moves all the time, so he has to have that sense of urgency about him constantly. If he’s on the right side and then all of a sudden he has to go left, he has to be aware and constantly has to be aware and in the game.

He has to understand the game like a quarterback understands the game. The best ones I’ve been around have that and naturally understand the flow of a game. They know how to set the tempo of the game and he’s the kind of guy that fits that role for us.

A fourth-round pick in the 2015 NFL draft, Crowder followed up an impressive career at Duke with a strong performance during Senior Bowl week. Once in Washington, Crowder quickly established himself as one the league’s better slot targets.

Despite missing eight games over the past two seasons, Crowder still racked up 2,628 yards on 221 catches over his four years in Washington, catching 14 touchdowns and adding 677 yards on punt returns.

While the Jets could still target another big-bodied pass-catcher in the 2019 NFL draft, Crowder’s arrival gives them a solid trio with Robby Anderson and Quincy Enunwa, all of whom are 26 years old or younger.

With the present and future of the franchise largely resting on the shoulders of Sam Darnold, giving him a playmaker like Crowder certainly won’t hurt his chances of success.