90 Buffalo Bills players in 90 days: WR Jamison Crowder

The Buffalo Bills had one of the league’s best wide receiver groups in 2021, with Stefon Diggs, Emmanuel Sanders, and Cole Beasley sitting atop the depth chart. Just one year later, two of those three players are gone, as both Sanders and Beasley remain unsigned at the moment.

While the Bills have some young talent at receiver, they also added a veteran to replace Beasley in the slot. That veteran is someone who should be quite familiar to Bills fans, as he had some pretty big games against Buffalo during his time with the New York Jets.

With the first entry in the 2022 vintage of “90 players in 90 days,” we profile Buffalo’s newest pass-catching weapon—a dynamic slot receiver who should give the team plenty of YAC opportunities.

Name: Jamison Crowder

Number: 80

Position: WR

Height/Weight: 5’9”, 177 lbs

Age: 28 (29 on 6/17/2022)

Experience/Draft: 8; drafted in the fourth round (No. 105 overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Washington Commanders

College: Duke

Acquired: Signed as UFA with Buffalo on 3/22/2022

Financial situation (per Spotrac): Crowder’s contract is a one-year deal worth a total of $2 million. Of that number, $1.875 million is guaranteed.

2021 Recap: Crowder struggled to find a rhythm with rookie quarterback Zach Wilson last year in his third season with the New York Jets, and as a result, it was the least productive of his three seasons in New Jersey. In fact, the 2021 season was the least productive of Crowder’s career, as he caught just 51 passes for 447 yards and two touchdowns. All of those metrics were career lows. He missed five games last year due to injury—a groin strain caused him to miss the first three games of the year, and a calf strain sidelined him in Weeks 16 and 17 before a re-aggravation of the same injury limited him in the season finale.

Positional outlook: Crowder sits atop the depth chart in terms of slot receivers in Buffalo, as fifth-round draft choice Khalil Shakir and Isaiah McKenzie figure to be the biggest challengers for time. Tanner Gentry, Marquez Stevenson, and undrafted free agent Malik Williams should also compete for time in the slot, with Gabriel Davis, Stefon Diggs, Jake Kumerow, Isaiah Hodgins, and undrafted free agent Neil Pau’u rounding out the group.

2022 Offseason: No news is good news, and there is no news on Crowder of late. He’ll be ready to go once training camp opens.

2022 Season outlook: There are a lot of mouths to feed in Buffalo’s passing attack, and a lot of Crowder’s usage will depend on whether new offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey is going to run “11” personnel or “21” personnel more often. Crowder and tight end O.J. Howard will be the guys who sub in and out for each other in those respective packages, but Crowder will also see challenges for playing time from McKenzie and Shakir. Crowder has great hands, and while he only averaged 3.5 yards after each catch last year, he averaged at least 4.6 yards after each catch in each of the prior three seasons. The departed Cole Beasley topped out at 4.9 yards after each catch, so Crowder gives the Bills a more dynamic slot option than they’ve had for the last few years. Crowder is a sneaky-good addition for the Bills this year.