Everyone who's been keeping up with the football world is probably aware of Michael Crabtree's role in the news of late. The rookie wide receiver is threatening to sit out the entire season because he's not happy with the terms of his contract. I'm not at all surprised to see this.
Crabtree thinks more highly of himself than any NFL experts do, as much as they all fully believe in his potential. Crabtree is a prima donna though. Even in college, he refused to eat the team-supplied food and would insist on someone bringing him food from an outside restaurant. This is typical behavior on his part. Let's think about what might happen if he does skip out on the season. It would obviously hurt the Niners if they lost out on their pick, but it'd hurt Crabtree even more.
Crabtree wouldn't be assured the top-5 pick status that he believes he commands next year. Who knows, he might even go after pick 10. Not only is this an extremely deep NFL draft pool in 2010, but what kind of team is going to want to draft Crabtree after seeing his antics in 2009? Look at the way teams feel about guys like Terrell Owens. The same could easily apply to Crabtree.
Crabtree's stock was at its all-time high in 2007, as he had one of the best seasons for a wide receiver in recent memory. His numbers dropped off a bit in 2008, but people were willing to see past that. Still, Crabtree would have gone higher in 2008 than in 2009, and I'm sure he'd go even lower in 2010.
Dez Bryant, should he enter the draft, may be a better option. His 2007 season was not as good....in fact, it was pretty bad. However, his 2008 season was better than Crabtree's. He caught for over 1400 yards and 19 TD's as well. Not to mention, he'll be going into his 3rd year, playing in an offense returning one of the best QB's in the nation in Zac Robinson (3000+ passing yards) and a 1500 yard rusher in Kendall Hunter, poised to have an even bigger season. So while Crabtree sits out, not playing football......Bryant will be enjoying another year as the top WR in the country.
Not to mention.....Crabtree played in Mike Leach's prolific spread offense.....an offense that does not easily translate into the NFL's basic drop-back offense. OSU runs a pro-style spread under its Offensive Coordinators Larry Fedor and Gunter Brewer. So, while OSU is going shotgun most of the time.....make no mistake about it....they're a run-first team. That offense, translates easier into the NFL.
So Crabtree will sit out a year, and he won't even be able to get into camp this year.....which makes no sense for him. He's recovering from an injury, so it's vital that he gets time in to adapt to the NFL's basic offensive schemes. Not only that, but he needs to take time to get to know the franchise. Meanwhile, Dez Bryant will have another year of experience under his belt, and will likely get drafted high in the first round, barring some freak injury or terrible season. So while Crabtree does think he's the most interesting man in the world at this point in time....he's really turning out to be one of the stupidest players coming out of college. He thinks he has it made.
Ironically, this is all about money that Crabtree feels he deserves. Does he really think he'll earn more of it next year after putting on this show? I think not. Does the name Mike Williams ring a bell? Crabtree may ultimately suffer from the same fate if he doesn't turn it around.
Crabtree thinks more highly of himself than any NFL experts do, as much as they all fully believe in his potential. Crabtree is a prima donna though. Even in college, he refused to eat the team-supplied food and would insist on someone bringing him food from an outside restaurant. This is typical behavior on his part. Let's think about what might happen if he does skip out on the season. It would obviously hurt the Niners if they lost out on their pick, but it'd hurt Crabtree even more.
Crabtree wouldn't be assured the top-5 pick status that he believes he commands next year. Who knows, he might even go after pick 10. Not only is this an extremely deep NFL draft pool in 2010, but what kind of team is going to want to draft Crabtree after seeing his antics in 2009? Look at the way teams feel about guys like Terrell Owens. The same could easily apply to Crabtree.
Crabtree's stock was at its all-time high in 2007, as he had one of the best seasons for a wide receiver in recent memory. His numbers dropped off a bit in 2008, but people were willing to see past that. Still, Crabtree would have gone higher in 2008 than in 2009, and I'm sure he'd go even lower in 2010.
Dez Bryant, should he enter the draft, may be a better option. His 2007 season was not as good....in fact, it was pretty bad. However, his 2008 season was better than Crabtree's. He caught for over 1400 yards and 19 TD's as well. Not to mention, he'll be going into his 3rd year, playing in an offense returning one of the best QB's in the nation in Zac Robinson (3000+ passing yards) and a 1500 yard rusher in Kendall Hunter, poised to have an even bigger season. So while Crabtree sits out, not playing football......Bryant will be enjoying another year as the top WR in the country.
Not to mention.....Crabtree played in Mike Leach's prolific spread offense.....an offense that does not easily translate into the NFL's basic drop-back offense. OSU runs a pro-style spread under its Offensive Coordinators Larry Fedor and Gunter Brewer. So, while OSU is going shotgun most of the time.....make no mistake about it....they're a run-first team. That offense, translates easier into the NFL.
So Crabtree will sit out a year, and he won't even be able to get into camp this year.....which makes no sense for him. He's recovering from an injury, so it's vital that he gets time in to adapt to the NFL's basic offensive schemes. Not only that, but he needs to take time to get to know the franchise. Meanwhile, Dez Bryant will have another year of experience under his belt, and will likely get drafted high in the first round, barring some freak injury or terrible season. So while Crabtree does think he's the most interesting man in the world at this point in time....he's really turning out to be one of the stupidest players coming out of college. He thinks he has it made.
Ironically, this is all about money that Crabtree feels he deserves. Does he really think he'll earn more of it next year after putting on this show? I think not. Does the name Mike Williams ring a bell? Crabtree may ultimately suffer from the same fate if he doesn't turn it around.
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