Five Oakland Raiders Facing a Make Or Break Season
By Kevin Saito
Oct 19, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree (15) attempts a reception as Denver Broncos cornerback Chris Harris (25) defends in the first quarter at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
As a receiver at Texas Tech, Michael Crabtree flashed enormous potential, and unbelievable skills. He seemed to have it all – size, speed, and skills. In two seasons at Tech, Crabtree hauled in 231 balls for 3,127 yards, and 41 touchdowns. Two seasons.
It was enough for the San Francisco 49ers to make him the tenth overall pick in the 2009 draft. Unfortunately for the 49ers, once he hit the NFL, Crabtree’s production fell off dramatically. In six seasons in red and gold, Crabtree broke 1,000 yards just once, and never developed into the dominating offensive force they believed they were getting.
As a result, San Francisco let him follow former HC Jim Harbaugh out the door after the 2014 season. And unfortunately for Crabtree, the market for his services was far less robust than he believed it would be. In fact, the market for Crabtree was almost nonexistent. Perhaps people just expect more from such a high draft pick.
That led him to sign a one year, $3 million dollar deal with the Raiders – with another $2 million available in incentives, though those will be very hard to meet.
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Oakland signed him to a “prove it” deal, and if Crabtree wants to keep his career going, perhaps parlaying his season with the Raiders into a big(ish) payday, he is going to have to play hungrier and better than he has at almost any point in his career. He will need to prove that his 2013 Achille’s injury is healed, that he hasn’t lost his explosiveness, and that he can be a prime time receiver in the NFL.
Oh yeah, and he’s probably going to also need to do something about the reputation he has as a diva. Crabtree has a long, well documented history of being something of a malcontent, and a bit of a locker room cancer. According to multiple sports writers, they have not been able to find any current or former teammates who have a nice word to say about him.
If he doesn’t start producing on the field, and is unable to get his attitude issues under control, he may find that following the 2015 season, the already less than robust market for him may actually become nonexistent altogether.
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