Carl Crawford vs. Bubba Starling

[Cdog923]

Thanks to @Pedro Guerrero, we have another one of these! Which one of these QBs-turned-baseball players would you have rather seen wearing a football helmet rather than a baseball glove? 

[Xmas32]

This is a fun one.  For me it's Crawford.  Dude was in the big leagues by the time he was 20.  Was a 2nd round draft pick in baseball, had a scholly offer to UCLA for basketball and every option based college in the country wanted him at QB for football.  One of my good friends who lived in Houston and played against Crawford swears he's the best athlete he's ever seen.

[STL Husker]

I don't think this one is even close.  Even if Starling had stayed at UNL, wasn't he still considered a project?  Crawford seemed like a better fit in Solich's offense and I don't trust Pelini's staff to develop a qb with so much raw talent.  I think our program would be in a much different place if Crawford had played football.  I think we would be in the exact same place if Starling had stayed.

[The Dude]

Isn't Bubba about the same age as Weeden was when he went to Okie Lite?   I refuse to give up hope!

[Cdog923]

57 minutes ago, Xmas32 said:

This is a fun one.  For me it's Crawford.  Dude was in the big leagues by the time he was 20.  Was a 2nd round draft pick in baseball, had a scholly offer to UCLA for basketball and every option based college in the country wanted him at QB for football.  One of my good friends who lived in Houston and played against Crawford swears he's the best athlete he's ever seen.

 

On one hand, I think he could have beaten out Crouch. That might be blasphemy to say about a Heisman Trophy winner, but even if he didn't, he would have started over Lord for two years.

 

On the other hand, by that time, the offense was so incredibly dependent on the QB, I don't know if he alone could have changed the trajectory of the program alone. Lord put up fantastic numbers, and the team still stumbled in '02 and '03. 

Edited April 10, 2018 by Cdog923

[ADS]

Crawford for sure.  But Donovan McNabb could also be a part of this poll.  Thought I read there was a time where he was considered a husk lean.

[Cdog923]

2 minutes ago, ADS said:

Crawford for sure.  But Donovan McNabb could also be a part of this poll.  Thought I read there was a time where he was considered a husk lean.

 

That raises an interesting hypothetical: if McNabb is here, does Frost transfer back? 

[ADS]

10 minutes ago, Cdog923 said:

 

That raises an interesting hypothetical: if McNabb is here, does Frost transfer back? 

Is Donovan McNabb our HC today instead of Frost?

[Xmas32]

7 minutes ago, Cdog923 said:

 

On one hand, I think he could have beaten out Crouch. That might be blasphemy to say about a Heisman Trophy winner, but even if he didn't, he would have started over Lord for two years.

 

On the other hand, by that time, the offense was so incredibly dependent on the QB, I don't know if he alone could have changed the trajectory of the program alone. Lord put up fantastic numbers, and the team still stumbled in '02 and '03. 

 

It's a fascinating hypothetical.  I remember Lord taking an absolute beating and wonder if Crawford could hold up, that being said, they're roughly the same size (6'2, 215ish)

[Redux]

I can't wait until Bubba finally gets here in another couple years, he's gonna light it up!

[Cdog923]

8 minutes ago, Xmas32 said:

 

It's a fascinating hypothetical.  I remember Lord taking an absolute beating and wonder if Crawford could hold up, that being said, they're roughly the same size (6'2, 215ish)

 

Would they have been the same type of runner? I remember Lord being a bruiser, a Tebow/Frost type of power runner. Would Crawford been more elusive? A Crouch/Martinez type? 

[junior4949]

5 hours ago, Xmas32 said:

 

It's a fascinating hypothetical.  I remember Lord taking an absolute beating and wonder if Crawford could hold up, that being said, they're roughly the same size (6'2, 215ish)

 

I've often wondered if the absolute beating Lord took wasn't mostly self-inflicted?  He was running behind a 1st Team All American tackle and behind a solid center.  Back then, I thought the OL was unfairly blamed because it seemed Lord wasn't exactly on the same page as his OL.  I always wondered on the plays where he made something out of nothing came from him going the wrong way to begin with.

[The Dude]

21 minutes ago, ADS said:

Is Donovan McNabb our HC today instead of Frost?

[Pedro Guerrero]

Crawford hands down.  That would have meant that the Dodgers wouldn’t have had to pay that hack $192,500 per game to be very average.

[Xmas32]

21 minutes ago, Cdog923 said:

 

Would they have been the same type of runner? I remember Lord being a bruiser, a Tebow/Frost type of power runner. Would Crawford been more elusive? A Crouch/Martinez type? 

 

Yup, fair point.  I never saw him play football.  He was one heckuva athlete when he played CF for Tampa Bay when he came up.