I have the vertias 7' M I throw small cranks with my rod personal preference on stiffness some people want limber rod for cranks the argument is a stiff rod pulls the crank out of the fishes mouth. This spring I threw a LucyCraft sp with no problems.

I would not use either of those rods for a crank you want the rod to load up and with the MH the rod doesn't give enough to not jerk the hooks out of the fish mouth. You can use it but you will notice that you miss a lot more fish than what you would if you had a different rod. The abu rods especially the verita are really stiff, everytime I pick that rod up at Academy I think of a broom stick. I do have a vendetta and really like it but I use it for Trig. You can get a decent cranking rod for around 50. I have a Castaway rod thats made for shallow running cranks. Its 6'8 and great you don't have to set the hook when the fish hits the rod pretty much does it for you.