With the 10th pick in the 2009 NFL Draft the San Francisco 49ers selected wide receiver Michael Crabtree. Crabtree was starting to get that “oh my god I’m dropping” look on his face, but it didn’t last long. Crabtree was the second WR selected in the draft, only behind Derius Heyward Bay to the Oakland Raiders.

The 49ers don’t have a great quarterback situation, but they are a team on the rise and despoerately needed a go to wide receiver. They haven’t had a player of Crabtree’s calibur since Terrell Owens.

The 2009 NFL Draft is just a day away. Michael Crabtree will soon become a member of a new team and a new league. It’s an exciting time for all Crabtree fans who have watching him excel at Texas Tech over the years. It will be a little sad when I have to update the theme of this website to a new team.

There’s no doubt in my mind Crabtree will land in the top 10 of the draft. He could go as high as No. 5 to Cleveland or as low as No. 10 to San Francisco. Neither of those teams have a wide receiver they can count own. Sure Cleveland has BRaylon Edwards, but they’ve been rumored to be shopping him… so I don’t think his future is with the Browns. Oakland and Jacksonville are also contendors for Michael Crabtree.

Where do you think he will go? I can’t wait for tomorrow!

Fianlly he’s getting healthy! Michael Crabtree, considered the top WR prospect in the upcoming NFL Draft, just had his cast removed the other day. Here’s a take from NFL.com

Texas Tech WR Michael Crabtree, who recently had foot surgery to repair a slight stress fracture on his left foot, had his cast removed Tuesday.

The cast was taken off by Dr. Carey in Dallas, nearly three weeks after Dr. Robert Anderson performed the surgery at the Carolina Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C. on March 4.

The operation was a success and the original report said Crabtree would be sidelined for 10 weeks. Crabtree will remain in a walking boot for another week and is expected to be back on his feet at that point.

One of the most productive wideouts in college football with the Red Raiders, Crabtree is expected by most observers to go in the top half of the draft.

His timetable for recovery should give him plenty of time to be ready for training camp in July.

Crabtree is now visiting 4 teams this week. I can’t confirm the teams just yet, but I believe three of them to be the San Francisco 49ers, the New York Giants and the Cleveland Browns.

The Sporting News just published an article suggesting the Jaguars will draft Michael Crabtree if he’s available at the No. 8 spot.

Another receiver? Are you kidding me? Yea, I think it’s a little nuts but I began thinking about it and it does make sense on a couple of levels. If Crabtree fell to the Jaguars at the eighth pick, barring the Jags don’t trade down, he would represent excellent value. Selecting the Texas Tech product would be a smart decision that exemplifies a pick where both need and value met. While the team has a multitude of other needs Crabtree may be too good to pass up.

With the recent cuts of Jerry Porter and Matt Jones, plus the loss of Reggie Williams to free agency… that leaves the Jaguars with Dennis Northcutt (legal troubles) and Mike Walker as their top two receivers. Damn!

The Jags need another WR like Kerry Collins needs another beer. They have a terrible history of drafting WRs and their offense doesn’t exactly scheme around throwing the ball, but Crabtree could be a nice fit for Jacksonville. As the go to option from the first game, Crabtree will have every opportunity to succeed.

What do you think?

Michael Crabtree has been one of the biggest stories of the NFL Combine this year. But it’s been for all the wrong reasons. Everyone is talking about his ‘injury’. Apparently Crabtree has a slight stress fracture in his left foot. It doesn’t bother him, but an injury could scare some NFL teams.

“It’s an old injury I’ve been having,” Crabtree said. “I’ve never had any pain in it. I will run my 40, and after that I’m going to do surgery. And I’m looking forward to going to the next level.”

Mike Mayock, scouting expert for the NFL Network, said he’s not sure that running is the right thing for Crabtree to do, but he respects his desire to compete.

“I think he’s trying to show people, ‘I’m not afraid to run,’ and I give him points for that,” Mayock said. “On the other hand, I have a feeling — and I don’t know — that his doctors and advisors are going to say, ‘Let’s rethink this thing. There’s enough tape out there on you. You’re a top-10 pick in everybody’s mind. You’re not all of a sudden going to become a third-round pick. Let’s just move forward.”

Crabtree proved what he can do on the football field. I agree with Mayock that he probably shouldn’t run at the NFL Combine. There are dozens of players that skip the Combine all together, or don’t participate in all the events.

Michael Crabtree was one of the best wide receivers in college football the last two years, so why has he been spending time at the Michael Johnson Performance Center? You remember Michael Johnson right… the Olympic sprinter with the gold shoes. I guess the scouts seem to think Crabtree needs to work on his speed.

“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.”

Michael Crabtree will be the first wide receiver taken in the NFL Draft, so teams will expect big things from him. No more WR busts like Reggie Williams, Mike Williams, and Charles Rodgers. The NFL needs a big time playmaker.

“[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.”

Nearly every mock draft you see, they have Michael Crabtree going to Seattle. The Seahawks lack a big play wide receiver for Matt Haselbeck to throw to. Hasselbeck always seems to put up big numbers, but he spreads the ball around in that west coast offense. He needs a true No. 1.

The Seattle Post Intelligencer wrote an article about the prospect of bringing Michael Crabtree in. You can read the article here.

For some reason I don’t think the Seahawks will take Crabtree. I think they’ll go with a tackle, or possibly a quarterback depending on who goes ahead of them. Crabtree may drop to the Raiders or Jaguars.

Michael Crabtree announced officially nnounced he will enter the NFL Draft in April 2009. We’ve talked about this a lot over the past few weeks and I really feel like he’s making a wise decision. Two years of college football, two years of being chosen the best receiver in the country. There wasn’t much left for Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree to accomplish. Maybe a Big 12 Championship… but really, that won’t help his draft stock.

His career totals of 231 catches for 3,127 yards and 41 touchdowns would be remarkable over three or four years. Compiled over only two years, it’s no wonder he was an All-American both seasons and was a two-time winner of the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top receiver. He was fifth in voting for the Heisman Trophy this past season.

“I feel like the next level will be a big challenge for me and I’m looking forward to it,” Crabtree said. “It was hard when I was little. Money was a big problem. I feel like this was the best decision.”

Michael said he has heard he will be a top 5 pick and that’s what he’s going for.

“The main thing is, it’s work. It’s your job now,” Crabtree said. “You’ve got to wake up every day working.”

I want to wish Crabtree all the luck in the world at the next level. Rookie receivers rarely blow up in the NFL. It may take him a few years to adjust.

Michael Crabtree told Red Raider Sports yesterday that he plans to come back for his junior season. Hard to believe right? Well, here’s the quote.

“Yeah,” he responded when asked if he would be returning for his junior season.

But surely, there must be some consideration of entering the NFL?

“No, not at all,” responded Crabtree when asked that question.

“I’m taking every game like I did last year, one game at a time. I’m really not worried too much about the future right now because that’s out of my reach. I’m just worried about what I can control, and that’s college football.”

I don’t buy for one second that Michael Crabtree wants to return to Texas Tech for another season. He does know that he’ll be a Top 10 pick in the NFL Draft next year and in 2010 there may be a rookie cap? Gotta come out now while the guaranteed millions are there.

Sure we all wish he would stay so we can enjoy watching him play another season and break even more records, but he needs to do what’s best for himself and his family. These guys only have so many years they can play football… get the money while it’s there.