Suddenly the former master seems unrelated to the irreplaceable master.
Entering his third season with the Giants, quarterback Ty Crowder has already beaten the initial odds of remaining in the NFL awarded to “Mr. Irrelevant” — the nickname assigned to the last pick for each draft class. He was one of the most likely names on every team’s leading strikers list last season, keeping company with future Hall of Famer Bobby Wagner, former Top 10 pick Roquan Smith, First Team All-Pro De’Vondre Campbell and others. Foundation stars.
But Crowder was still seen as a placeholder until captain Blake Martinez twice returned from injury or searched the Giants elsewhere. Well, the free agency and the draft passed without any major investment in the in-house quarterback, and then Martinez and the Giants mutually agreed to separate on September 1 Only 10 days before the season opens.
So Crowder, 25, once again stays standing as the No. 1 choice on the depth chart who can’t afford to dyslex after Martinez’s surprise release and debutant Darrian Beavers’ rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament at the end of the season.
“He’s a guy you could tell he’s played a lot of football,” inner quarterback coach John Igorogo said recently. “He’s a veteran in my eyes - with the actors he’s got on the field - and he’s shown that. He just keeps getting better.”
Crowder’s 23 career in his first two seasons - including his last 14 games last season as a defensive caller after Martinez ruptured in the AFC Champions League - has already put him third among Mr. Irrelevants since the draft fell to seven rounds in 1994. Defensive only Michael Green (48) and full-back Jim Finn (45) have been enjoying more during long careers.
On August 8, the day the Giants squabbled at training camp, Crowder sent the message that the defense would not be pushed just because interference was out of bounds in practice. When Antonio Williams was thrown back to the ground as a throwback to Sacon Barkley who knocked out cornerback Aaron Robinson, he lit the fuse.
“Tae is the man who will ride with his buddies,” Safety Julian Love Then he said.
Defensive end Jihad Ward added, “Tai gets it. He’s ready to tease it, and I can’t wait for him to get out of there. He’s running the show.”
It’s not just a show. This production was the equivalent of a Baltimore Emmy Award winner.
In Wink Martindale’s coordinator system, the quarterback was previously reserved for Ravens superstars Ray Lewis, Bart Scott, CJ Mosley and Daryl Smith. It’s the position that Martindale’s aggressive hijacker admits is “the hardest for him.”
“I knew it would be fun just to have him as a coordinator,” Crowder said during bootcamp.
The Giants spend a lot of time in the 3-3-5 and 4-2-5 formations with a nickel corner back at the inside back. When a 3-4 base pack is required, Egorugwu looks to put the “Top Two” on the field and match skill set to tasks rather than assigning a “midfielder” or “right” and “left”.
Other inside options are rookie Micah McFadden, businessman Austin Calletro and two other 2020 recruiting picks in Carter Coughlin and Cam Brown who were drafted ahead of Crowder but played 235 fewer defensive shots each compared to the 1,501 Mr. Not-So-Irrelevant. No wonder, then, that Crowder’s football IQ is improving.
“I’m not sure if that’s just the difference in defense,” Crowder said. “I feel like you watch the movie and you keep practicing every day, every year is different. You learn more every year you work. … Every year as a player you have to be better than you were last year. I know I already led the team [with 130 tackles], but it’s in the past. I’m worried now.”