Buffalo Bills wide receiver Jamison Crowder is coming off his worst season since his rookie year. Crowder got lost on an inept Jets offense and is looking for a fresh start on a high-powered Bills team. Now in Buffalo, what is Crowder’s fantasy football outlook, and should managers target him at his ADP in fantasy football drafts?
Jamison Crowder’s fantasy outlook for 2022
Crowder’s detractors point to his paltry $2 million contract for one year as an argument against him mattering in 2022. The reality is if a player is good at football, he’ll earn touches.
Crowder has been a productive NFL player for most of his career, and he’s still just 29 years old. Last season, he had his worst year since he was a rookie. Crowder averaged just 9.1 PPR fantasy points per game, a stark drop from the career-high 14.3 ppg he averaged the previous season.
No one is mistaking Crowder for a player with a WR1 ceiling. However, he has the upside to produce WR3 numbers if things break right.
How the Bills’ depth chart impacts Jamison Crowder’s fantasy projection for the season
Josh Allen is the best quarterback in fantasy football. He’s a surefire top-five real-life quarterback who’s proven capable of supporting three fantasy-relevant wide receivers. And while we know Stefon Diggs is locked in as the dominant alpha WR1, there’s plenty of room for other receivers.
Just two years ago, a 31-year-old Cole Beasley averaged 13.8 ppg. Crowder is two years younger now than Beasley was then, and Crowder is just a better wide receiver. By no means is Crowder a lock to match Beasley’s production, but his chances of putting up similar numbers are higher than the fantasy community is giving him credit for.
Crowder was unable to beat out Isaiah McKenzie for the primary slot role
Everything I’ve said up to this point serves to establish that Crowder, when on the field, is capable of being a fantasy asset. Unfortunately, he’s not going to be on the field much.
Isaiah McKenzie has won the WR3 job. He will start over Crowder with Diggs and Davis on the outside. As a result, his only path to fantasy relevance involves an injury to one of the three guys ahead of him.
The good news is, even as the WR3, he would be valuable. Buffalo had at least three wide receivers on the field 80% of the time last season. In 2021, the Bills threw the ball 64% of the time in neutral game script situations. Only the Bucs threw the ball at a higher rate.
Crowder’s ADP for 2022
Crowder’s ADP is well outside the top 72, which is roughly the cutoff for being drafted in standard-sized 12-team leagues. But it’s falling fast. As more and more fantasy managers realize McKenzie is the starting slot receiver, Crowder will be even farther away from being drafted.
Unless all of Diggs, Davis, and McKenzie are healthy for a full 17 games, Crowder will likely pop up during the season as a streamer. But that’s not someone you draft. He is our consensus WR81 for a reason.