The Raiders 2026 draft class has received plenty of hype in the last two months, but a player that has been skipped over a little in terms of hype is third-round pick Keyron Crawford.
At Auburn, Crawford was overshadowed a little by fellow edge rusher Keldric Faulk, who was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the first round. But prior to the draft, Crawford caught the attention of ESPN’s Field Yates, who called the 22-year-old edge rusher a “big riser” going into the draft.
So much of the attention following the draft, particularly from media types, has been focused on Fernando Mendoza, Treydan Stukes, Trey Zuhn, and Jermod McCoy, but Crawford did an interview on the Raiders’ website last week, that seemed to reignite the conversation around him.
“A guy that I’m very intrigued by that doesn’t have a whole lot of football experience is Keyron Crawford. Saw a little bit of him last night. They had a ‘Behind The Shield’ episode, really cool episode that the Raiders put out, and I got to know him a little bit more just by watching that… I’m hearing that he is a steal of the draft there in the third round,” Myers said on Raider Nation Radio’s Unnecessary Roughness with Q Myers.
“The way that he delivered the answer to them when they were asking about just what motivates him, what pushes him, I ain’t saying he’s a day one starter, but I feel like he might be a dude that we’re talking about in December,” Myers continued.
“I just got that sense from watching. Out of those three (rookies)… there’s something about that edge that Keyron Crawford has to him… To me, that’s who stood out of those three rookies: Mendoza, Stukes and Crawford. Crawford made the biggest impression to me, but that’s just me.”
For what it’s worth, the hype around Crawford hasn’t only come from inside the Raiders’ building – and it started well before the Raiders selected him with the 67th pick in the draft.
Raiders weren’t the only team eyeing Crawford closely…
Prior to the draft, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler thought Crawford might be drafted as early as the second around and offered one of the more intriguing assessments of the Raiders’ new edge prospect, adding that NFL scouts were “buzzing” about Crawford after watching Auburn closely on account of Faulk.
“A one-year starter at Auburn (and two-year starter overall), Crawford played the “Buck” edge defender role (mostly stand-up) in former defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin’s hybrid front. After two seasons at Arkansas State, he was a backup for the Tigers in 2024 before emerging in 2025 as one of the more disruptive players in the SEC. Despite rushing the passer on just 39.1 percent of his snaps, he notched a pressure on 17.8 percent of his pass-rush snaps in 2025 (No. 4 in the SEC and No. 12 in the FBS),” Brugler wrote in his yearly ‘The Beast’ draft guide.
“NFL scouts focused this past fall on the Auburn defensive line to see Keldric Faulk — and left buzzing about Crawford. He explodes off the ball with purpose and a growing repertoire of pass-rush moves. He lacks ideal length and lower-body power, and he feels undersized at times on tape, especially once bigger bodies latch onto him. But his effort consistently pops as a pass rusher, run defender and dropper,” Brugler continued.
“Crawford is still learning what it means to be a technician, but he is a twitched-up defender with the compete skills and intriguing skill set to contribute right away. He offers role versatility and will fit 3-4 or 4-3 looks.”
x: @raidersbeat