The Raiders knew they were getting a project when they drafted Tyree Wilson with the seventh-overall pick in 2023, and based on comments from Maxx Crosby this week, it sounds like Wilson’s first year in the NFL was a real learning process.
Fortunately for Wilson, he shares a position with arguably the hardest-working player in the league, and Crosby was a big part of Wilson’s development over the last year.
Crosby went on record this week about Wilson’s improvement as a player and said that some of the on-field criticisms of the rookie were merited.
Via NFL Network’s The NFL Report, Crosby said he believes Wilson has “all the ability” to be a great player and is learning how to put it all together as a professional…
“[Tyree Wilson} was hurt. He wasn’t able to be with us in OTAs. He missed half of camp with the injury, so it kind of was a slower process to get him fully ingrained and understand what it takes to be a professional, and be a part of our group, and be a part of something that’s bigger than just ourselves. He came a long way from the beginning. From week one to week 18 was like night and day.
[Brian Baldinger] was very honest about it. You see Baldy make videos of like ‘What is he doing? Why is he not getting off the ball?’ and it was real. Some people were sensitive about it, but at the end of the day, if you’re not held accountable and you don’t understand what you have to do and why we’re doing it, then you’ll never improve.
This business is a production-based business. I don’t care how good you look, how big you are, how fast you are in a track suite at the combine with tights on… what matters is what you do on a daily basis while you’re in that building…
Tyree is a guy who wants to be great. He works at it. He has been working at it and he understands what it takes to do it on a daily basis and I’m constantly showing him that and other guys are also doing it, and Tyree is a part of that now… He’s going to be a great player in this league. He’s a guy that got all the size, all the ability. It’s just about putting it all together and everybody’s timeline is different.
Some people come right out of the gate and have instant success. Some people it takes five years. Some people it takes two years. It doesn’t matter. At the end of the day when you get in the building it’s a fresh start whether you’re the number one or you’re undrafted. The work starts when you get in the building and Tyree understands that now.”
twitter: @raidersbeat