Texas A&M Football: Earnest Crownover Declares for NFL Draft

Earnest Crownover, RB/FB for Texas A&M Football, Declares for NFL Draft

Another Texas A&M football player has declared his intention to enter the NFL draft, with Earnest Crownover announcing yesterday that he would test the waters as a professional.

Originally from Grandview, Texas, Earnest transferred to the Aggies after his freshman year. He is the older brother of OT Dametrious Crownover, who started in the bowl game for the Aggies.

Crownover didn't put up a lot of statistics over his four years with the Aggies, totaling 47 rushing yards and 46 receiving yards during his time in College Station. His biggest impact was as a lead blocker, for which he saw the most time in this previous season. His only two touchdowns of his career came through the air; both were nifty plays drawn up by Bobby Petrino to fool the defense and were memorable to Aggie fans.

Regardless, Crownover will be missed. With how multiple the offense is that Collin Klein is bringing in, the H-Back/Fullback spot that Crownover could have slid into would have fit him well. He has good enough hands to make catches out of the backfield with regularity, and so his versatility at that spot could have aided the Aggies.

At 6'1" and 220 LBs, Crownover isn't exactly a hulking, imposing back. Still, though, he played his role well: if you go back and watch the play where Amari scored in the Texas Bowl, for example, you can see Crownover get a great seal block on a Cowboy defender to spring Amari free for the touchdown. Something like that doesn't show up on the stat sheet, but Crownover's role was to make those kinds of plays—and it's something he excelled at.

The fullback position isn't one that often gets drafted, and Crownover doesn't have enough tape as a pure running back to sell himself there. Unless he puts up insane numbers at a pro day, then, I doubt he will be taken in the draft; however, he could provide significant value as a UDFA to one team or another. Best of luck, Earnest!