No doubt Michael Crabtree is fast enough for the NFL
By CHAREAN WILLIAMS
cjwilliams@star-telegram.com
Friday, Feb 13, 2009
Posted on Thu, Feb. 12, 2009
MCKINNEY — Cornerbacks have talked a lot of trash to Michael Crabtree over the years. They’ve called him every name in the book.
"But I seem to show them when it’s time to show," the former Texas Tech receiver said Wednesday. " ... I don’t do too much talking. I like to prove my point."
The one thing a cornerback has never been dumb enough to call Crabtree is "slow."
Crabtree always has been fast enough on the football field. Fast enough to catch 231 passes for 3,127 yards and 41 touchdowns in 26 games. Fast enough to twice win the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s best receiver. Fast enough to finish fifth in voting for the Heisman Trophy in 2008.
Yet, Crabtree’s speed now is being questioned. It’s the one negative on his scouting report.
That has brought Crabtree to the Michael Johnson Performance Center, where Johnson, the four-time gold-medalist and nine-time world champion, has been charged with making Crabtree faster. Crabtree has been training with 13 other draft prospects, including Mississippi offensive tackle Michael Oher, Oklahoma State tight end Brandon Pettigrew and Virginia Tech defensive back Victor "Macho" Harris, since Jan. 6.
"[Crabtree] has got it," said Lance Walker, the director for performance at the Michael Johnson Performance Center. "I’ve seen bursts of what he’s got. ... Now, can we get him to funnel all that together for some silly 40-yard dash thing? I don’t know. I can tell you this: He’s not 4.55 on the field. There’s no way. The guys that know, they know what I’m talking about. There’s field speed, and there’s 40-yard dash speed."
The NFL’s all-time leading rusher, Emmitt Smith, ran a 4.6 in the 40-yard dash. The NFL’s all-time leading receiver, Jerry Rice, ran 4.71.
Crabtree is being compared to Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald. At 6-foot-2 1/2 , 208 pounds, Crabtree is close to Fitzgerald’s build (6-3, 225), and Fitzgerald ran a 4.55 at his Pro Day in 2004. Scouts expect Crabtree to run something similar.
"The quickest way to understand Crabtree’s potential is to consider the possibility that he is the second-coming of Larry Fitzgerald," NFL Draft Scout’s report of Crabtree begins. "There, it’s said. ... He may not impress with his clock time in 40 yards, but neither did Fitzgerald or Jerry Rice."
Crabtree won’t run at the NFL Scouting Combine, which begins next Wednesday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. He will wait until his personal Pro Day at John Kincaide Stadium in Dallas in late March.
Crabtree’s high right ankle sprain, which limited him to a career-low four catches for 30 yards and a touchdown in the Cotton Bowl, is "85 percent, maybe even 90" percent healed. But he said it isn’t a big issue since he played hurt during the season.
Ultimately, Crabtree’s speed won’t be a big issue either.
No matter what Crabtree runs in the 40, he isn’t likely to have a long wait on draft day. NFL Draft Scout, ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper and Scouts Inc. all have Crabtree as the top player in the draft, though he isn’t likely to go first overall to the Detroit Lions.
"Crabtree is a big kid with great hands, great competitiveness," Kiper said in a conference call Wednesday. "He doesn’t have great 40 speed, because people forget how big he is. He’s a big kid. He’s kind of like a Larry Fitzgerald-type, that power forward playing wide receiver.
"Crabtree could go four to Seattle and even earlier than that. I think he’s the best player in the draft."
Crabtree said he hasn’t been timed in the 40-yard dash since high school, when he ran a 4.5. When asked if he was "fast enough," Crabtree responded, "You tell me."
"A football player is a football player," he added. "The slowest guy can score touchdowns and shake people and make moves the next man can’t do. I see a football player as a football player."
There’s no arguing Crabtree is that.
