Crabtree Has Stress Fracture, Out 6-10 Weeks

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Crabtree Has Stress Fracture, Out 6-10 Weeks

Filed on February 21st, 2009 in NCAA Football, NFL ⋅ ⋅

Michael Crabtree has a stress fracture in his left foot that will require a screw to be inserted and he’ll likely be out for 6-10 weeks. The injury is in its early stages and was discovered during the testing that he went through at the start of the NFL Combine.

While you would think that a stress fracture that causes a receiver of his caliber to miss the combine would be no problem, since he’s shown just how good he is on the field. But that’s not the way these people on the NFL Network are looking at it.

Somehow, the NFL Combine has become the only evaluation that matters for an NFL prospect. Do you think Lebron James status would have dropped if he missed a four day workout a month before the NFL draft due to a minor injury? Of course not, you knew he could play ball better than anyone else in that draft.

Do you think a baseball franchise would have passed on high school phenom Alex Rodriguez because he didn’t bench press an arbitrary amount of weight as many times as someone else?

Same with Crabtree. If an NFL team passes on this guy because they didn’t get an accurate read on his 40 time, then they deserve what they get.

If we’ve learned anything over the years from the NFL Combine, it’s that teams might be better off to use less raw numbers and more game film to evaluate how good a football player is.

Want to know how I know Crabtree is going to be a good NFL receiver without knowing his 40 time? Here:

You want to know who wasn’t fast at the NFL Combine or their personal workouts? How about Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, Emmitt Smith, and many, many more great football players. Hell, Boldin is probably in the 4.7 range, but there are 31 other teams that would love to have him.

The combine is fun to watch, and it’s fun to see who this year’s Workout Warrior will be. But people need to remember that this is a measure of individual skills, and under no circumstances should they take precedent over a player’s ability to play football.

Historically speaking, players drafted on their proven ability to play football are better NFL players than guys who had a great combine but an undistinguished college football career.

Enjoy watching the combine, just take everything you see and hear with a grain of salt.

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