Crabtree: Additional Bad News
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Posted by: Shaun Dolence
The news for Michael Crabtree just keeps getting worse. During a medical exam conducted on Friday at the NFL Scouting Combine, it was revealed that Crabtree has the beginning stages of a stress fracture in his left foot that will require a screw to be surgically inserted to stabilize the area.
To make matters worse, Crabtree, whose stock was almost entirely dependent on his 40-yard dash time, will not be able to run for 8-10 weeks. According to sources, Crabtree will likely take a more conservative approach to the healing process, and allow an entire 10 weeks for healing. That means he’ll cancel his Pro Day workouts, and teams will have to rely on game footage to see him play. It looks like Crabtree’s draft stock is going to take a hit, but he’ll still be great value if he drops to the second half of the first round.
Apparently, according to doctors, this injury happened recently – most likely while Crabtree was training for the combine. And with the surgery necessary for a good recovery, Crabtree will not be ready to play football again until the summer training camps start up.
This injury is not new to athletes around the league – Terrell Owens once had a stress fracture in his foot before having a screw surgically inserted, and more recently, Jonathan Stewart opted for the same procedure last year before the NFL draft. Stewart, despite the injury and not being healthy for workouts, was still selected in the first round by the Carolina Panthers. Both T.O. and Stewart have obviously recovered nicely and are contributing in big ways for their respective teams.
It should be interesting to see how this injury affects Crabtree’s stock – will teams (in the top five) be scared away, or will someone take a chance on his potential?