NFL Breakout Pass Catchers for 2017…WR/TE

 

By Russ Taliaferro

Tyreek Hill – 2nd year WR, Kansas City Chiefs

Now yes, he was ranked in the top 50 of the NFL Top 100, but there are so many doubters of him. For that reason, and his beautiful versatility, I put him on my breakout list of 2017. While 593 yards & 6 TDs isn’t crazy impressive, that’s were his versatility kicks in. Let’s throw in 267 rushing yards & 3 TDs, 384 yards & 1 TD on kick returns & 592 yards & 2 TD’s on punt returns.

That right there sounds like a formula for an all-purpose monster. In fact, only 3 names were ahead of him on the all-purpose list; David Johnson, Ezekiel Elliot, & Le’Veon Bell. That’s a pretty impressive list to #4 on. Mix that versatility, with the absence of Jeremy Maclin, the motivation to prove his doubters wrong & a sub-4.3 40 speed, WATCH OUT!!!!

 

Jamison Crowder – 3rd year WR, Washington Redskins

Coming off 847 yds & 7 tds, you wouldn’t think that you could consider Crowder a breakthrough player anymore, but I think the best is yet to come from the 3rd year vet. In his rookie season out of Duke, he collected 604 yds & 2 tds playing behind DeSean Jackson & Pierre Garçon, while also taking snaps as the teams main punt returner. With the offseason addition of Terrelle Pryor ,plus Josh Doctson returning an achillies injury, Crowder is once again likely to be considered the 3rd option at receiver. While he & Doctson are both battling hamstring injuries this preseason, I believe his isn’t as severe & he will be back to make an impact that will make it hard to keep him of the field.

Kevin White – 3rd year WR, Chicago Bears

I’ll be honest here. Even I’m not sure about this player. As the former #7 pick in the 2015 draft, Kevin White has had his first 2 seasons plagued with injuries. His rookie season was cut short by a stress fracture in his left shin, & in 2016, he played four games before breaking his fibula in the same leg. Even with the Bears not being able to resign Alshon Jeffrey, White’s road to the #1 spot isn’t going as easy as he wants to be. The team has brought in Victor Cruz & Markus Wheaton to help fill a huge void left by Jeffrey’s departure. If that wasn’t enough to contend with, the undrafted Cameron Meredith showed last year his own potential to be a threat in Chicago. While White may not be on Jeffrey’s playing level yet, he certainly has a very similar size to him, which is a damn good start. I have a lot of faith in the New Jersey native’s future, but I wish I could say the same about whoever his quarterback is, but that’s a whole conversation for another day.

Hunter Henry – 2nd year TE, Los Angeles Chargers

There may have not been that many yards to go with the touchdowns, but boy did he produce touchdowns. Eight of them to be exact, which is the 5th most in history by a rookie TE. While Philip Rivers may be on the wrong side of 35 come December, he is still a heck of a QB & I think we’ve all seen that he loves a reliable TD threat in a TE, which Henry fits that mold. While he may be learning behind one the best TE’s of all-time in Antonio Gates, Henry is poised to take the throne from him sooner rather than later. Unless an unforeseen injury comes along, I could see that happening this season.

OJ Howard – Rookie TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Being that this was the first time over 10 years that 2 TE’s were drafted in the first round(2006; Vernon Davis, Mercedes Lewis), there must’ve been something special about both of them. OJ Howard most definitely has “IT”, even though he is just a rookie. The young talent in Tampa Bay is ridiculous to say the least. Jamies Winston is making that #1 pick well worth it. It also helps that he’s throwing to someone, who in my opinion is the second coming of Calvin Johnson, in Mike Evans. Howard, along with fellow rookie Chris Godwin, will just slide right in & given Winston more threats to throw to behind a very solid O-Line. Oh and did I mention that DeSean Jackson is there too now? #Dangerous

Austin Hooper – 2nd year TE, Atlanta Falcons

To be honest, I wanted to put Jack Doyle in the last spot, but the uncertainty of Andrew Luck made me take a second look at Austin Hooper. The one thing that Hooper definitely has over Doyle is a healthy QB, in the reigning MVP, Matt Ryan. While Hooper wasn’t a huge part of the Falcons Super bowl run last season, he did at least get a td in the championship game. Ryan himself has said that he has grown “exponentially” during this offseason. With growth like that, I expect him to play a big part in the Falcons offense, along with the great Julio Jones & that solid run game. Matt Ryan will definitely look to repeat as MVP with Hooper’s help.