I was out of town for most of the week, but I spent a few hours on Saturday catching up. A rundown on some player developments that occurred that caused me to make changes on my draft board:
Jamison Crowder, Washington. For most of the offseason, I have been wondering whether Terrelle Pryor or Josh Doctson would be Washington’s best wide receiver. I was figuring Jamison Crowder would remain their third wide receiver. But recent comments by Jay Gruden indicate Crowder is probably more likely than either of those guys to be the team’s best wide receiver.
Crowder was primarily a slot receiver last year, when the team also had DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon. Now the plan is to move him around more and use him more, according to an analysis piece penned by Mark Bullock of The Washington Post. Crowder now could run more of the vertical routes that previously were primarily handled by Jackson.
“I’ve said all along Jamison can play anywhere … He can play outside, inside,” Gruden says. “He gets himself open because he’s got a great feel. He’s got quickness in and out of his breaks. He plays a lot longer than his size. He has got really long arms. He goes up and gets balls. Sometime he plays bigger than a taller receiver because he uses his height [and] he’s got great jumping ability and times the jumps extremely well. Some tall guys you see, they misjudge it and they don’t jump. But Jamison, he times them perfect and makes big plays.”
We’ll see what the guys look like in camp, of course, but ranking them today I would go Crowder-Pryor-Doctson. A few days ago, I had them Pryor-Doctson-Crowder (I am regretting, in fact, selecting Doctson with the 139th pick of a draft a few days ago).
Seth DeValve, Cleveland. The Akron Beacon Journal ran an article by Nate Ulrich suggesting that tight end Seth DeValve could be the team’s sleeper for 2017. Not that anybody will be drafting DeValve, but there were some points that caught my eye.
DeValve supposedly has been catching everything in drills, and the expectation is that he’ll be one of the team’s primary tight ends. He’s gained 10 pounds, and having been around for a year, he has a better idea of what he’s doing.
DeValve could be another Cameron Brate – a wide receiver in the Ivy League (Harvard for Brate, Princeton for DeValve) who makes the switch to tight end in the pros.
“His speed and his ability to change directions, his ability to leave his feet, control his body and catch the ball makes it more difficult if bigger guys are covering him. So our hope is that he will be a very effective guy, particularly in the scoring zone,” says tight ends coach Greg Seamon.
Rookie tight ends typically struggle, so it won’t surprise me at all if DeValve outperforms first-rounder David Njoku. (For now, please don’t draft either of these guys.)
Eric Decker, Titans. They’re paying him, and it’s a little more than I expected.
Decker will get about $4 million for sure, and could pick up about another $1.5 million in incentives. Sounds like he’ll be a viable part of the team’s offense.
This detracts from the three pass catchers who already look solidly entrenched: Rishard Matthews, Corey Davis and Delanie Walker. With Decker muscling in, those guys should see slightly fewer balls. Walker is an older tight end – 33 on opening day. The three wide receivers look pretty similar. I’m ranking them Matthews-Davis-Decker for now. Davis is by far the best long-term, but he’ll probably need time to learn the offense and adjust to the speed and difficulty of the pro game.
The addition of Decker should bump Tajae Sharpe off the field, and he might not even make the team. They drafted Taywan Taylor in the third round, and he’s definitely going to be on the roster. So right now, Sharpe looks like their 5th-best wide receiver at best.
Doug Martin, Buccaneers. Every few weeks Dirk Koetter makes a comment underscoring the possibility that Tampa Bay might release Martin.
Martin is suspended for the first three games of the season for violating the drug policy. Because he won’t be active on opening day, that allows the Bucs to potentially release him without being on the hook for his $5.7 million salary.
On the Ira Kaufman Podcast at JoeBucsFan.com, Koetter declined to commit to using Martin in any kind of role when he returns in Week 4. “That is all hypothetical, all right?,” he said. “We have no idea what is going to happen to our other tailbacks by then. So, I don’t spend too much time worrying about that kind of stuff.”
If the Bucs like the way the other tailbacks are playing – Charles Sims, Jacquizz Rodgers and rookie Jeremy McNichols – they very likely will dump Martin. As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk points out, because of the way the money flows now (because of the suspension), that decision doesn’t need to be made in July, August or even early September. They can play the first three games, remain quiet about Martin, and then release him if they wish. They’d probably love to trade him, but that’s unlikely.
Unfortunately, I don’t see a clear No. 1 between those other three backs. Sims is the best pass catcher. Backs that will need to be watched carefully in August, of course.
—Ian Allan