Hey there football fans! Here are five things from yesterday that you need to know to start off your Thursdays:
Jamison Crowder remains sidelined at camp. After being a big part of the Washington offense in 2016, Crowder has yet to get into the thick of things at camp this year due to a hamstring issue.
Crowder was a vital part of the offense in 2016. Crowder ran 523 total routes, with 76.1 percent of them coming from the slot. He recorded seven touchdowns (which led the Washington receiving corps and ranked second among slot receivers) and averaged 1.55 yards per route run, the ninth highest mark among slot receivers.
Crowder dropped just three of 70 catchable passes in 2016, and his catch rate of 63.6 on deep passes (passes that travel 20+ yards in the air) ranked third of 78 wide receivers with at least 10 deep targets. Crowder and quarterback Kirk Cousins developed good chemistry last season, and when targeting Crowder, Cousins posted a passer rating of 112.9, the highest mark among all second-year wide receivers with at least 45 targets.
Sterling Shepard was carted off at practice. It seems the injury was to an ankle and the cart was mostly precautionary.
Shepard is just a year removed from being the second highest graded receiver in the nation at 91.7. His 3.19 yards per route run from the slot was also third in the entire country.
In 2016, the Giants used over 90 percent 11 personnel (1 HB, 1 TE) and that left Shepard in the slot for the most part – 82.4 percent of his snaps – where he dominated catching eight touchdowns to lead the league.
The injury may open an opportunity for more reps to go to first-round pick Evan Engram. Engram led the TE class with both seven TDs and 2.61 yards per route run out of the slot. He ran 73.2 percent of his routes from the slot.
Todd Gurley could get more looks in the Los Angeles Rams' passing attack. HC Sean McVay believes that Gurley has the skill set to catch more passes this year.
After a couple impressive stretches during Gurley’s rookie season in which he earned an overall grade of 80.4, he was a major disappointment in 2016. His 2016 grade of 50.7 ranked just 53rd out of 61 eligible running backs and his production metrics all seemingly dropped off from his rookie year.
Gurley was featured quite a bit in the passing game last season, ranking fourth among all running backs in snaps-in-route with 333. His receiving grade of 72.3 ranked 21st among qualifying running backs while his 0.98 yards per route run ranked just 39th.
Eric Decker is looking good in Tennessee Titans training camp. The wide receiver continues to catch people's attention during camp.
Decker was limited to just three games with the New York Jets in 2016 due to a shoulder injury. In 2015 he was particularly effective lined up in the slot, with his 695 receiving yards ranking fifth out of 52 eligible wide receivers, and 7 touchdowns ranking third.
Decker has been a consistent performer throughout his NFL career, ranking highly in PFF’s WR Rating (a receiver’s passer rating when targeted), which has been in excess of 92.5 for all but one of his seven seasons in the league.
The Dallas Cowboys want to get Ezekiel Elliott more involved in the passing game. HC Jason Garrett and QB Dak Prescott both want Elliott be more involved this year.
Elliott had a superb rookie season, earning an overall PFF grade of 88.8, second among RBs in 2016. He also had a receiving grade of 73.4, which ranked 19th among 52 qualified RBs.
As a pass-catcher, Elliott performed quite well, he was efficient running routes out of the backfield, his average yards per route run of 1.39 ranked 19th among 43 RBs and he only dropped one of the 33 catchable passes thrown his way in 2016 for a drop rate of 3.03, which was second best among NFC RBs with at least 28 targets.
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