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Boise State numerical roster countdown 2016: Day 85, Nick Crabtree

By Drew Roberts
Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

We have just 85 days until kickoff, so today we'll look at an incoming Bronco who hasn't yet been officially assigned a number, but could wear #85 (or something close)—Nick Crabtree

#85, Nick Crabtree, True Freshman, TE

Crabtree

Stats

Height: 6'6"

Weight: 250 lbs.

High School: Huntington Beach HS, Huntington Beach, CA

How'd he get to The Blue™?

Crabtree pulled the blue and orange trigger after a visit in August of 2015 and never looked back—even instructing his high school coaches to give other college suitors the bum's rush...

"I told my coach to let any schools that come to recruit me that I wasn't interested," he said. "Like I said, Boise is where I want to be." (Source)

The lanky tight end was rated a 3-star by Scout.com, ESPN, and 247 and Scout even pegged him as the 3rd best available TE recruit in the state of California. As a senior, Crabtree hauled in 40 passes for 550 yards and 3 scores. As a junior, he snagged 21 passes for 332 yards. When Nick committed, he was already sitting on offers from Nevada, Fresno State, and SJSU (and was sure to land more had he not instructed his gatekeepers to turn them away). Make way for blockin' and catchin'

Nickname

"Crabby"

krabby patty

This Spongebob homage brought to you by my 5 year-old son.

Look-a-like

Monteith

Late actor Cory Monteith

Career highlights

Over 800 receiving yards between junior and senior seasons. Recipient of the Jim Axton Memorial Award for Character and Leadership. Invited to Sunset League Sportsmanship Conference.

2016 prospectus

With the graduation of Holden Huff, Boise State looked like they were bound to get a little shorter at the tight end position (especially with the dismissal of 6'5" David Lucero). Now, the Broncos aren't exactly Lilliputian at TE, but Holden Huff definitely had more wingspan than his counterparts and adding a little length is never a bad thing with receiving targets. Enter Nick Crabtree, who will arrive in all his 6'6" glory to The Blue™ next month and should open up some higher altitude passing lanes for the Broncos in fairly short order.

Now, Crabtree won't bring quite the same pass-catching pedigree to Boise that his stature-buddy Huff did (Huff held several school records for receiving yardage), but he also didn't come from as pass-happy an offense as Rocklin High. One thing Crabtree does have over the departed Huff is a solid frame and room to grow...er...horizontally. Huff arrived in beanpole territory and really never had the girth to become an effective blocker during his time in Boise...Crabtree is already past the 250 lb. plateau and could end up being a beefier Tommy Gallarda. I'd think that Brett Rypien would do well to keep this guy in his periphery in 2017 and beyond. We've got a little too much TE depth for me to think that Crabtree sees the field in 2016, but he looks like he could be devastatingly effective in the blocking and passing game once he learns the Bronco system—I'm already looking forward to all the "how's the weather up there?" questions at future interviews.

Is he on Twitter?

Yes, and he's already mastered the Harsin 75° point. #Magnificent

Completely made up fact

This is the Crabtree family crest.

crab tree