Crabtree – boom/bust or middle of the road?
At the outset I will admit that I ‘home’ for the 49ers, have since the early 90s and always will. I don’t obsess about them openly but inwardly I go through the usual highs and lows (of which there have been lots since the days of Mariucci and co.) that all major fans do.
So when Michael Crabtree got injured in his final college year and fell to the 49ers I was over the moon. He was easily the best WR in that draft class and skills wise probably the best since then as well. Unfortunately for me and every other niners fan, he just hasn’t lived up to his ability thus far (I really hope he doesn’t turn out to be another J.J. Stokes).
However, Jim Harbaugh knows that the key to getting the Niners’ offence clicking is to get Crabtree the ball and more importantly get him to live up to his massive ceiling. With an implementation of the West Coast offence once again for the 49ers, this should provide Crabtree a platform from which to springboard his NFL career to where it should be.
Another obstacle seems to be Crabtree’s inability to stay healthy. This was an issue coming out of college and one of the main reasons he slid down the first round. As a team the 49ers need him to get into training camp this season. He is already injured and struggling with a foot injury, the same foot he had surgery on before the draft.
One plus point is that he is at training camp (when I say that I mean the camp that Alex Smith organised for the players) and sitting in on team discussions. Although he is not running routes he is at least out on the field, but he needs to be actively out there ASAP to help this team reach the lofty expectations that analysts and experts have for them.
Obviously a healthy and fit and raring to go Crabtree is not necessarily what will take the 49ers to that next level, but it’s a good start. Keeping him and Frank Gore healthy for the whole season would go a long way to getting them to a point where the divisional title is at least attainable.
Content courtesy of J_Dogg
