Crable

FOXBORO — Shawn Crable is more proof that dreams really can come true.

Going from foster home to foster home throughout his childhood, Crable, now 23, was finally taken in for good by a family friend’s mother, Ella Kirkland, when he was 11.

If that was the best day of his life — one that changed his life for the better — yesterday was certainly a close second.

After Kirkland helped Crable turn his life around, he became a Washington High School (Massillon, Ohio) football star and had a successful college career at the University of Michigan.

Yesterday, the talented linebacker was chosen by the New England Patriots in the third round of the NFL Draft, 78th overall.

He says that if it hadn’t been for Kirkland, he may never have made it this far.

“She means the world to me,” Crable said of Kirkland. “She’s an angel. She got me on track. I was a little rough around the edges before I got with her, and she took the time and nurtured me and got me on track to where I’m going.

“She gave me the [confidence] that I could do something in college and she had me playing sports and things like that. She really got me into everything.”

At 6-foot-5 and 243 pounds, Crable has a build similar to that of Carl Banks, an All-American linebacker at Michigan State who went on to earn All-Pro honors during a stellar career with the New York Giants.

The scouts say Crable has the same read-and-react skills and playing strength as Banks. In college, Crable showed the same ability to attack the backfield coming off the edge as Banks displayed throughout his college and pro careers.

New England coach Bill Belichick compared Crable to the Patriots’ Pierre Woods. Crable is a versatile player.

With his tall and lanky frame, some scouts have said he has the ability to bulk up and play on the defensive line, where his pass-rushing and pass-coverage skills could excel as a hybrid linebacker/defensive end.

“I’ve been learning both since I was in high school, so I really haven’t a chance to really focus on either one of them,” Crable said about playing linebacker and defensive end. “Where I am more comfortable at, I don’t know. I’ve been doing both for a while, so I’m just waiting to get to the coaches and see what they want me to do.”

Belichick thinks Crable will play strictly linebacker and not be on the defensive line.

“For a linebacker, I think he’s good,” Belichick said. “He’s got good range. Sort of like Pierre (Woods). He’s kind of a tall, thin frame, but he’s got really exceptional strength and he plays a lot stronger than he looks… He’s got very good upper-body strength and plays with good leverage even though he kind of has a thin lower body.”

Crable recorded 43 tackles for losses in his career at Michigan, which ranks him seventh in school history. He accumulated 28.5 tackles for losses last season and also had 7.5 sacks, making him one of the elite blitzers in this NFL Draft.

His time of 4.64 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the Combine ranked third among defensive linemen and tied for sixth among linebackers.

Crable accumulated 148 tackles and 16 sacks in his career at Michigan, emerging as a powerful defender during his junior and senior campaigns, when he took over the starting job at strong-side linebacker. There, he earned All-Big Ten second-team honors both seasons and was named a second-team All-American last season.

Crable, however, has no experience in a 3-4 defense, which the Patriots play.

“I played a lot of outside linebacker at Michigan, so I’m hoping I can just get with the coaches and they can teach me some things and watch a couple of the veterans and things like that, and just kind of learn from them,” Crable said.

While valued as a pass rusher, scouts don’t believe he has the strength to fend off double-teams because of his slender lower body.

roblee@projo.com