The best thing about the NFL Draft is that pre-draft analysis of every eligible hopeful will be vanquished forever.
Well, at least until next year.
Sensationalized coverage of workouts, scouting tape, anonymous quotes from NFL personnel and rehashing of player back stories from the press are drawing nigh.
Montgomery Advertiser reporter Duane Rankin is the latest to put on his amateur scouting hat to breakdown the draft prospects and perception of former Alabama State running back Isaiah Crowell.
Rankin writes about the recurring narrative about Crowell that he’s a risky pick because of a past that includes being dismissed from Georgia due to legal issues.
I saw him check out in his final college game. Alabama State gave Crowell a chance after Mark Richt sent him packing from Georgia. Following the felony charges and he didn’t go out the way he should have.
Rankin then outlines the paradox that is Crowell’s athletic ability combined with his past and questionable work ethic. Oh, the horror! What can teams make of this complex athlete who runs a 4.5 in the 40-yard dash?
Then again, I also saw him rip off long runs against Jackson State and Division I-A Kentucky and have an impressive NFL combine. Risk. Reward. Redemption?
Isaiah Crowell will begin to answer those questions next month.
Crowell won’t honestly answer those questions until games are played.
But that is the world the NFL and its omnipresent draft has placed us all in, where we have to write and say something — anything about anything whether it matters or not. Spaced needs to be filled. Content needs to be created. Checks need to be garnered. I get it.
Thank goodness the draft is just a few weeks away.
