Crowell

[bbird2013]

I was super excited about this year for Crowell. Going into a contract year and a top offensive line. While he hasn't gotten much of an opportunity he has also just looked like a plodder. He looked a lot more explosive last year. I signed him to a 3 year deal this year and thought I was getting a deal especially guys like Ajayi and Gordon went for double. What are all your thoughts? I usually like to sell high on players, but I am getting antsy. Should I wait, or try to get something for him now?

[nathanq42]

Just wait, he has faced top defences and got taken out by game script. He is asking for more carries and hue says he wants to have a ground based attack (even more so with coco on ir, and a rookie qb) I expect crowell to have an uptick in all areas of the game, carries and catches

[cazzie33]

R-E-L-A-X (to quote a certain QB)

Rookie QB,poor WR play add up to stacked boxes with cheating safeties daring the Brownies to put the onus on their rookie to win games. So far that formula has worked and forced Cleveland to play from behind. Either Kizer gets better or gets benched. Takes awhile to get used to NFL game speed and changing defenses. Schedule is getting easier for offense too.

Colts game was a disappointment on both sides of the ball early which took away ball control game plan. Might be an overall down year but talent is there to be usable as flex on good matchup weeks. Future is still bright

[Plank]

They really did try to get Crowell going early in the last game vs IND, ..

In the 1st quarter:
He had 75% success rate on 1st down, with 4 carries, 21 yards, ypc 5.3 with one explosive run (10+) over center ..
only 1 attempt on 2nd down, which was a loss for a yard
Had 2 out 5 plays go for less of 3 yards, 2 out of 5 to go for more than 6 yards

Duke Johnson didn't touch the ball until the 2nd qtr .. where he had an explosive run for 19 yds ..

So in pointing out the 1st qtr, you can see that CLE really intended to use Crowell and he performed well on 1st down .. think we are going to see this all year though, as CLE gets into negative game script, Duke's role will increase as the game goes on, because he is the more dynamic back in the passing the game ..

IF CLE starts leading teams, that is when Crowell will have the opportunity to put up bigger numbers. You can try to find games where the run game is critical to the game plan vs. teams that are horrible at stopping the run ... but I think it is still a risk, Hue likes to pass and with the young QB and WR's he is going to still probably favor in trying to get the passing game going, its not like in CHI where they are so inept passing that they are just going to run it down peoples throats .. Really have to remember that Hue's reputation is a QB whisperer and developing QB's so I don't think we'll ever see him abandon the passing game and become a run heavy team to give Crowell the type of volume he would need to put up big numbers ...

Funny to look at that game by Quarters, only 2 rushes at all in the 3rd by either back, Crowell 2 for 4 yds, one for 3, the other for 1 yd

and 0 carries in the 4th by anyone ...

Also what happened in that game was #21 Taylor was horrible in off coverage on TY Hilton, Hilton was running free all over the place .. Peppers who they have been lining up 25 yards deep, really had a bad game also, taking wrong angles .. IND was able to jump all over CLE very early in this game, CLE was able to make half time adjustments and they did climb back into this game, but it was all passing in the 2nd half for CLE

[WhatWouldDitkaDo]

IF CLE starts leading teams, that is when Crowell will have the opportunity to put up bigger numbers.

Look at CLE's schedule though. Realistically, I see one or two games all year where they might have a lead or a close score all game...

[Plank]

Yes, I think at this stage it is very unrealistic to expect good fantasy production from the CLE running game at all this year .. IND was a good spot, only if they could have stopped TY early and kept the game close .. Maybe vs teams with anemic passing games?

This is of course is focusing on game script, excluding any one singular explosive play where Crowell gets loose and has a big fantasy day ... think in general Crowell's floor is extremely low. To me he is not even a boom/bust play ..

Even with Duke having a decent day, with some explosive plays, he still wasn't a top play .. maybe if he can increased volume? I just dunno, I think this year Duke is flex worthy and if I owned him, I'd want to see him get a higher % of touches.. all the talk with him playing slot, just seems to make him a low slot option .. 7 to 8 pts per game, he'd really need TD's to bolster any kind of week winning production..

[moishetreats]

I'm not worried. Yet.

Last year, he had almost 1,300 total yards and 7 TDs. Still, he had 7 (!) games with fewer than 30 yards rushing. I anticipated that this year, with an improved O-line, he'd still have his good games but also reduce his crazy bad ones. That has happened. Yet.

Ultimately, Crowell could go either way. Given all the reasons that many -- including me -- were high on him, it's still too early to jump ship. And, if you were low on him to begin with, then there's almost no way that he was on your team at the beginning of the season anyway.

In sum, hold.

[_yeti]

He has looked okay to me in spurts throughout his career but I don't think he would start on 90% of NFL teams.

[Cameron Giles]

To me, the problem seems to be:

1. Cleveland's offensive line is getting killed in run blocking, so far.
2. Defenses aren't respecting the receivers (or QB), so the run is easier to stop.
3. Cleveland struggles scoring and gets down a lot in games. So, they can't always continue to commit to the run. So far, the Browns have 45 rushing attempts in the 1st half and 22 rushing attempts in the 2nd half.

With the talent on their line, there's potential to turn it around. But, they also have a steep schedule of run defenses coming up too. Not to mention, plenty of teams that can kill them early and force them to pass.

[mike40]

Attempted to buy low 2 weeks ago for a 1st Rd pick next year... Hopefully he turns this season around

[Plank]

Also I think if he does have a big game I'd sell ... bet CLE drafts a RB next year ..

[sugbear65]

I've wondered all along why some people are so high on Crow, this was the easiest thing to see coming. I don't dislike him, I think he's an adequate RB, not the worst starter out there. But how much did/do you think the Browns are going to be running the ball? He's not a passing down, so he needs rushing yds and TDs to prop up his stats. If you thought he was getting enough if those two things in Cleveland to be a RB1 or high RB2, you deluded yourself from the door.
Sorry to say, but I don't think this situation is getting any better this season. Duke is the back to own there if you have to choose one. I would definitely try to sell Crow now while his name value is still worth more than his production.

[The Red Rooster]

Crowell continues to be vastly overated on this forum. Ive seen numerous people value him as more than a 1st round pick...if someone is still willing to give that, take it. I just dont see how they dont start getting Duke more carries.

[MEuRaH]

I've said it before but I think it's worth repeating. Crowell is a bum. Besides the fact that his "highlights" are nothing more than a few long runs through wide open holes in the defense, his numbers are straight garbage. Here are some stats for games over the last 2 seasons (not including 2017):

10 rushes 20 yards, 11r 32y, 8r 9y, 10r 14y, 6r -5y, 7r 7y, 9r 23y, 13r 22y, 9r 16y, 11r 29y, 6r 4y, 9r 23y, 8r 10y, 8r 28y, 16r 44y, 10r 38y.

Look at that, I pulled a 16-game sample of games out of the last 2 years for Crowell. Wow what a stud. I dare you to find me a worse looking 16-game set of stats from another RB in the league.

[Dynasty DeLorean]

I've wondered all along why some people are so high on Crow, this was the easiest thing to see coming. I don't dislike him, I think he's an adequate RB, not the worst starter out there. But how much did/do you think the Browns are going to be running the ball? He's not a passing down, so he needs rushing yds and TDs to prop up his stats. If you thought he was getting enough if those two things in Cleveland to be a RB1 or high RB2, you deluded yourself from the door.
Sorry to say, but I don't think this situation is getting any better this season. Duke is the back to own there if you have to choose one. I would definitely try to sell Crow now while his name value is still worth more than his production.

Pretty much what sug said. I know someone on UTH was pimping him pretty hard and last week he even doubled down saying he was still a buy lol. A lot of ppl were pimping his situation, which as you described was quite a reach. I was always wary but many people bought in.