I cant friggin wait for this season to get started....Pacman Jones, Deion Sanders, Devin Hester mentioned....
Texas Tech's Crabtree a relentless Raider
12:29 AM CDT on Monday, August 11, 2008
By BRANDON GEORGE / The Dallas Morning News
bgeorge@dallasnews.com
LUBBOCK – Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree could have taken it easy over the summer.
After a freshman season in which he won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver, the Carter product had every reason to rest on his laurels.
But Crabtree isn't one to settle. The Heisman Trophy candidate has never lacked for confidence or motivation.
"I want to be the best," said Crabtree, who set NCAA freshman and Big 12 records last season with 134 receptions for 1,962 yards and 22 touchdowns, leading the nation in each category. "The best can't just chill off one season. The best has to work every day, every year, every minute."
And that's what Crabtree did. He worked out daily and even tested himself against Cowboys cornerback Adam Jones and former All-Pro cornerback Deion Sanders at Sanders' "Prime U" clinic in May at SMU.
Crabtree, who will have to make a decision at the end of the season between entering the NFL draft or staying at Tech, got to see how he measures up against an elite cornerback in Jones for a few hours over two days.
Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree set NCAA freshman and Big 12 records last season.
View largerMore photos Photo store "Oh, you know I won every battle," said Crabtree, flashing his wide smile that has become as identifiable as his leaping ability.
Jones saw it otherwise.
"Yeah right," Jones said. "He didn't even catch a ball."
Regardless of who beat whom, Jones said he came away impressed.
"Crabtree is physical. He's a good receiver. He's got all the tools, but he's got to refine some things," Jones said. "In the league, he's not going to be able to run through everybody. He's got to work on his technique, snugging and pulling to get off press [coverage]. Other than that, he runs pretty good routes."
Crabtree had informal workouts at the clinic alongside NFL receivers T.J. Houshmandzadeh of Cincinnati and Devin Hester of Chicago. And, of course, he said he was on the receiving end of some trash talk from Sanders and others.
"They were all out there talking noise," Crabtree said, laughing. "They were trying to dog me. I just improved on the field and had fun."
Part of what makes Crabtree such a special player is the way he approaches his opposition. When Crabtree looks across the line of scrimmage, he said doesn't see the defensive back for his name or his reputation. He only sees a target, the person he has to beat.
"From Day 1, he thought he belonged on that level with the top guys, not just in college football but in football," Tech receivers coach Lincoln Riley said.
Crabtree concentrated in the off-season on increasing his speed, and it appears to have worked.
"Last year, it usually was me just catching the ball over people," Crabtree said. "Right now, it's me running by people."
Tech starting cornerback Jamar Wall has seen a difference.
"He has more burst," Wall said. "You can just watch it on film."
The Tech coaching staff plans to take advantage of Crabtree's increased speed. Crabtree has been working in practices on returning kickoffs. Riley also said Tech will try to use Crabtree more on deep routes.
"He was a big-play threat last year, but he wasn't really the deep threat that we wanted. There were a lot of runs after the catch," Riley said. "Hopefully, we can make him a better deep threat."
Riley said he's constantly impressed by Crabtree's work ethic.
"Most guys would be satisfied with what he did last year, but he's not. He's coming out here practicing right now like it's his last day," Riley said. "I don't know if his numbers will be the same – he's going to have a lot of attention and be a marked man, for sure – but I guarantee you right now that he's so much further along than he was last year, that people wouldn't believe it."
Staff writer Todd Archer contributed to this report
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