One of the bigger stories surrounding the NFL scouting combine this week (besides the ongoing antics of Alabama’s Andre Smith, that is) is the foot injury that has caused Texas Tech wideout Michael Crabtree to skip workouts. He’ll need to have surgery to repair the slight fracture in his foot and therefore won’t be able to run the 40-yard dash at his Pro Day in March.
When players require surgery before the draft, the notion among some pundits is that their stock will fall. Hopefully teams aren’t that stupid in the case of Crabtree because anyone that has seen him in game action knows how dynamic he can be.
We live in a time where the 40-yard dash seems to rule all. A couple pundits were sporting wood last week when Baylor offensive tackle Jason Smith ran a 5.22 forty, which blew away every O-linemen at the combine. Besides displaying great athleticism, I don’t know why anyone would get overly excited about an offensive tackle running a fast forty. Unless a team plans on him being a combo left tackle/tight end, nobody should flip their lid over Smith (or any offensive tackle for that matter) running a 5.22 forty.
That said, Crabtree not being able to run the forty means very little. He wasn’t even supposed to run a fast time anyway, so nothing changes. He’s still a top 10 pick, he’s still one of the best overall prospects in the draft and he’ll still be the best wideout available come April. Darrius Heyward-Bey, Percy Harvin and Jeremy Maclin are all fantastic receiving prospects. But Crabtree beats them all – good 40-time or not.
