Jonathan Allen & JP Crawford
Coming up on the next “SportsTalk” program, we are scheduled to feature interviews with two of the most prominent young sports stars in the RCN-TV viewing area—Redskins’ #1 Draft Pick Jonathan Allen and Phillies preseason #1 prospect J. P. Crawford.
Both of these up-and-coming (potential) stars have had very different 2017s, year to date.
I thought the Redskins’ selection of Allen as their first pick was an outstanding choice—and a bit of a coup as many “mock draft” versions had him going ahead of Washington’s selection.
He’s an outstanding pass rusher, coming out of one of the top college football programs in the country (Alabama). He tested well in all the pre-draft workouts and has drawn nothing but praise from his coaches and the media in his OTAs and training camp workouts so far.
The Cowboys, despite their off the field issues, appear to be the most talented offensive team on paper—at least at the start of the season. And, there are some outstanding offensive weapons on the Giants and Eagles teams as well. Having a defensive lineman with Allen’s pedigree and his seemingly high ceiling—under team control for the foreseeable future—is a major plus for the Redskins.
His ties to the Washington/Virginia/Maryland region are an added bonus and he has been quite visible in the DMV region recently. With the uncertainty of Kirk Cousins beyond this season (again), there is a lack of big time marketable players on the defensive side of the ball. Allen can certainly fill that bill once he gets his first season under his belt. And if he continues to improve beyond his rookie season, he might be one of the most recognizable athletes in the DC region in a relatively short amount of time.
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Crawford has also had some lofty labels placed upon him coming into the 2017 baseball season. For a couple years he has been ranked as the best prospect in a Phillies organization that has been ranked as one of the top minor league franchises over the past year. Despite a disappointing 2016 season (in which he was just 21 years old), the expectations were high for the Phillies shortstop as he embarked on his second season with Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
With the Phillies struggling earlier this year, fans were clamoring for a prospect like Crawford to be promoted to the Big League level. Unfortunately, most fans weren’t quick to realize that Crawford was struggling even more this spring than he was last year—his batting average was under .200 for most of the first half of the year, and his defense paled in comparison to the incumbent Freddy Galvis—who has also been the unofficial team leader with the Phillies this summer.
At the All-Star break, when the latest prospect rankings came out, Crawford’s stock fell quite a bit and he was no longer regarded as one of the premiere prospects in the game.
Since that time, he has taken a “hungrier” approach to his game…and his statistics have responded. He’s been playing tighter defense and both his batting average and on-base percentages have improved dramatically over the last two months.
Crawford is not guaranteed an Opening Day roster spot with the Phillies in 2018 as many had expected to happen by now. However, if he finishes his 2017 campaign playing at his current level—there is still reason for optimism that he can be a major player with the Phillies as the team continues its rebuild.
While both the Redskins and the Phillies have had some bumps in the proverbial road in recent years, building their franchise around people like Allen and Crawford not just enhances the quality of each team on the field but both are very marketable and likeable personalities that can help sell tickets (which won’t hurt either) and can help build fan support in each team’s community for years to come.
