Crabtree Reportedly Tops Packers' Board

On Thursday, we speculated about the possibility of Michael Crabtree being available when Green Bay picks ninth in the NFL Draft.

While many observers would probably double over in laughter if Green Bay actually made this selection, there is precedence for it in the Packers' own division. According to Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Packers may indeed pull the trigger if Crabtree is on the board.

While it may all be an elaborate ruse aimed at finding a partner for a trade-down, McGinn says Packers general manager Ted Thompson rates Crabtree as the best in the draft.

Crabtree, 6 feet 1½ inches and 215 pounds, would operate in similar fashion to Sterling Sharpe, their last true power receiver.

He was compared to Michael Irvin, Terrell Owens, Anquan Boldin, Braylon Edwards and Cris Carter by various personnel people.

"He's got rare wide-receiver skills," said Blake Beddingfield, scouting coordinator for the Tennessee Titans. "Not rare speed or rare size. Just rare receiving skills."

Obviously, all of this is predicated on a few things. Not every draft scenario has Crabtree available when Green Bay picks. Also, McGinn's report has to actually be true. In this era of game-playing by executives with all 32 teams, you just never truly know a team's draft strategy until it actually plays out.

If the Packers indeed draft Crabtree, they'll be ignoring obvious needs on the defensive side of the ball. This is sure to bring some angst from Packer fans, many of whom already have decided that Thompson sucks at his job and probably at life in general. After all, he let Brett Favre go to the Jets, instead of keeping him in Green Bay to poison the Packers' own playoff chances.

There is, of course, precedent for ignoring defensive needs with a first-round pick. The Minnesota Vikings did just that in 1998, trusting their draft board and taking Randy Moss. They went 15-1 in Moss' first year with the team.

If Crabtree can stay healthy and be half as good as Sharpe was in his short time as a Packer, it's very hard to argue with the idea of choosing him, no matter the perceived needs on the football team.