We're not saying Isaiah Crowell, just signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Jets, and Chris Ivory, now with the Bills, are the same back, but there are a number of similarities.
They're about the same size (Crowell is 5'11", 225, Ivory is 6'0", 223). Both started at FBS schools, finished their college careers at smaller schools, and entered the NFL as undrafted free agents. Both have been described as having "angry" running styles. Both hit hard but have enough elusiveness to make defenders miss and reel off a few really big runs in the process.
If Crowell, at 25 almost 5 years younger, can have an impact in green and white similar to Ivory's three Jets seasons, this will be an outstanding acquisition.
Here are some more highlights from Crowell's football career, by the numbers:
1Crowell wore uniform number 1 for a good part of his football career — at George Washington Carver HS in Columbus, GA, in his one season with Georgia and in his three years at Alabama State. Then he sight-adjusted to No. 34 when he joined the Browns as an undrafted free agent after the 2014 draft.
4.81In 2016, Crowell averaged 4.81 yards/carry for Cleveland with a career-high 952 yards on 198 carries. A strong figure but not outrageous — unless we consider that he turned in that average for the 1-15 Browns. It's easily the best rush average on 100-plus carries for a zero- or one-win NFL team since 1970.
6/9In his NFL career and all in the past three seasons, Crowell has rushed for 100 yards in six games. Include receiving yards and he's cleared 100 scrimmage yards in nine games as a pro.
11.4That was Isaiah's rushing average for his high school career, built on 4,872 yards over 429 carries. That and his 61 touchdowns earned him high recruiting marks after his 2010 season, as high as* scout.com*'s evaluation that he was the top RB recruit and No. 5 overall prospect in the nation and the No. 1 overall prospect in Georgia.
32Crowell is always available. He's one of only four running backs to play in all 64 regular-season games the past four seasons and he and Frank Gore are the only two backs to start all 32 games the past two seasons.
85Crowell is one of eight RBs since 2014 to register an 85-yard run or longer. He ripped off that 85-yarder in Game 2 of 2016 against the Ravens. It was the second-longest run in Browns history behind only Pro Football Hall of Famer Bobby Mitchell's 90-yard run in 1959.
96As the 6/9 entry hints, Isaiah is a decent pass catcher out of the backfield. No 100-catch seasons like Matt Forte or LaDainian Tomlinson had, but he does have 96 career receptions and averages 8.0 yards/catch.
225That's how often Crowell has fumbled in his past three seasons as a pro — six fumbles on 676 offensive touches, or one fumble every 225.3 carries. That's the most sure-handed rate among the 28 NFL players (all RBs) with at least 450 touches from 2015-17. And he didn't fumble at all for the entire 2015 season.
