Here’s one for the fantasy football crowds to watch. According to the Seattle Post Intelligencer, Alge Crumpler reportedly is close to signing with the Seattle Seahawks in a move that should help not only the team but two individuals immensely.
Crumpler has for seven years put up solid numbers as one of the better rounded tight ends in the game. During the last five he’s ranged from 42 to 65 catches and between three and eight touchdowns, though he’s been hampered throughout his career by playing for a bad team with quarterbacking issues. Michael Vick, though an astounding athlete, threw passes that more closely resembled skipping rocks. And this past year, the trio of Byron Leftwich, Joey Harrington and Chris Redmon was uninspiring at best.
In joining the Seahawks Crumpler will be paired with Matt Hasselbeck, who is heading into his eighth year as the team’s starting quarterback. Hasselbeck has developed into a top 10 player at his position and has occasionally shown glimpses of superstardom. And he’s coming off arguably his best season, having fired for nearly 4,000 yards and 28 touchdowns.
And he did so with a below average running game, a solid-but-not-spectacular group of wide receivers like Nate Burleson, Bobby Engram, D.J. Hackett and Deion Branch and just 41 catches from top tight ends Marcus Pollard and Will Heller.
Barring injury Crumpler will arguably become the Seahawks top pass catcher at any position and most certainly will exceed the 41 catches by himself. He’ll take pressure off the aging Bobby Engram and lessen the impact of the team’s dunderheaded trade for the overrated Deion Branch two seasons ago.
And with another major weapon at his disposal it’s not unlikely that Hasselbeck improves on his career-high TD output as well. Don’t expect a Brady-to-Moss-like jump in numbers, but definitely keep your eye on the Hasselbeck-to-Crumpler duo as a strong likely contributor both at Qwest Field and on fantasy teams everywhere.
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Crumpler signed…with the Titans. Should be a nice target for Vince Young, but will that connection be any better than Vick/Crumpler was?
Guess I jumped the gun on that previous posting.
But I do think it would have been better for Crumpler to sign with Seattle. Vince Young, I think, is a better passer than Michael Vick. He has shown more capacity for learning and I love watching him play. He’s a winner. But neither, skills-wise, hold a candle to Hasselbeck, at this point anyway.