In the FCS Huddle: The curious case of App State
NCAA Football Betting Lines
02/07/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's not as if DeAndre Presley's college career was only seven games long. But that's the experience he must build off as he tries to build an NFL career.
There are 22 players from FCS programs who have been invited to the NFL Combine later this month in Indianapolis. The list of invites that came out Tuesday could not have had an odder background than Presley and Brian Quick at Appalachian State.
Quick seemingly is the cream of the FCS crop this year, perhaps a second- or third-round selection with his 6-foot-4, 220-pound size, speed and skill all ideal for an NFL wide receiver.
Presley's invite is indicative of his athleticism as well. It's just that he's now playing a position nobody at Appalachian State envisioned him at four months prior to the Combine - cornerback.
In 2010, Presley was the toast of Boone, N.C., when he stepped out of former quarterback Armanti Edwards' imposing shadow and led Appalachian State to a sixth straight Southern Conference title. He also finished third in the voting for the 2010 Walter Payton Award, which is presented to the outstanding player in the FCS by The Sportsbook Betting Lines and sponsored by Fathead.com.
He became just the fourth player in FCS history to pass for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in a season.
But Presley had a subpar start to the 2011 season and then injured his throwing shoulder in the fifth game on Oct. 1. Following a bye, he missed a game against The Citadel while his replacement, Jamal Jackson, started taking control of the offense.
Presley returned to action on Oct. 22 against Samford, but in the days leading up to the game, Mountaineers coach Jerry Moore asked the 5-11, 170-pound native of Tampa, Fla., if he would be willing to fill a need for the team in the secondary as a cornerback.
Presley obliged without question. He also soon found himself as a wide receiver and punt returner and went on to finish his senior season with 812 passing yards and four touchdown passes, 163 rushing yards and four scores, five receptions for 66 yards, 204 yards on nine kickoff returns, one punt return for three yards, 17 tackles (12 solo), one-and-a-half tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and two pass break-ups.
In addition to playing cornerback in Appalachian State's final six games, Presley played the position in the Battle of Florida all-star game Jan. 21 in Boca Raton, Fla. He was in on three tackles and returned four punts for 75 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown.
His trip to the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium will come with the final group of participants from Feb. 25-28. No matter how much he impresses teams in interviews, testing and workouts, he most likely will have to go the unsigned free agent route to make it to an NFL training camp.
His body of work doesn't match up with the many cornerbacks in the draft class. All Presley wants at this point, however, is a chance to prove himself.
That, of course, is what Quick did so well over his four-year career. He finished it as the program's all-time leader in receptions (202), receiving yards (3,418) and touchdown catches (31). He saved his best for last as a senior, catching 71 passes for 1,096 yards and 11 touchdowns, while the Mountaineers were making the Presley-to-Jackson change.
Quick will participate in the Combine from Feb. 23-26. Maybe he will put in a good word for DeAndre Presley.
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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
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