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Better get to know Isaiah Crowell, unlikely opening week fantasy star
Back in the day, 3-4 years ago, Isaiah Crowell was a pretty big deal.
Crowell was a five-star high school recruit, the top-ranked running back in the nation according various scouting services. He was a track star, widely regarded as the best prep football player in the state of Georgia, headed to UGA. In his first collegiate season, Crowell made seven starts for the Bulldogs, ultimately carrying the ball 185 times for 850 yards and five TDs. (Highlights here.) He was selected as the SEC Freshman of the Year, and various outlets (including Yahoo) named him a first-team freshman All-American, alongside Teddy Bridgewater, Sammy Watkins, Giovani Bernard and Jadeveon Clowney.
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However, Crowell didn't exactly have an incident-free career at Georgia. He was dismissed from the team following an arrest in June 2012, and soon enrolled at Alabama State, an FCS school. There, he was predictably great (6.6 YPC, 15 TDs in 2013). On talent, Crowell arguably ranked among the best backs in the 2014 draft class, but red flags were attached. (Our Rotoworld friends were all over him, pre-draft.)
Clevelend eventually signed Crowell as an undrafted rookie, and he cracked the opening week roster following a solid camp, punctuated by a stellar preseason performance against Chicago's junior varsity defense (13-102-1).
On Sunday, when Cleveland starter Ben Tate checked out with a knee injury against Pittsburgh, Crowell made the most of an unexpected opportunity. He carried the ball five times against the Steelers, gaining 32 yards, crossing the goal-line twice. After the game, a narrow last-second loss, Browns head coach Mike Pettine was clearly pleased with the 21-year-old back's contributions:
“Crowell really was not in the game plan,” said Pettine. “It was going to be Tate and West. To Crowell’s credit, he prepared like the starter. He went in there and did his job.”
We should note, of course, that Terrance West actually handled most of the backfield duties for Cleveland following Tate's exit — and he looked good doing it. West finished with 16 carries for an even 100 yards, breaking off a pair of 20-plus yard gains. He also out-snapped Crowell, 38 to 14.
So there's not much debate about the backfield hierarchy behind Tate: It's West, then Crowell. But both players are squarely on the pickup radar, and West is long-gone in any deep-ish fantasy format. He's rostered in 38 percent of the Yahoo universe, while Crowell is just 2 percent owned.
We don't yet have the full story on Tate's injury as of this writing, but it's clearly a worrisome situation. And of course we're talking about a back who's missed 24 regular season games since entering the league in 2010, so injury risk was always part of the discussion. Add West where you can, but keep Crowell in your plans as well. We know the Browns intend to be a run-heavy team, perhaps capable of supporting more than one flex-worthy back. Crowell is not your standard-issue UDFA rookie.
