The Las Vegas Raiders may not have been desperate for an edge rusher, but general manager John Spytek knows talent when he sees it. With the 67th pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Raiders went with a "best player available" philosophy and selected former Auburn standout Keyron Crawford—a raw, high-upside pass rusher who could develop into a game-changer for the Silver and Black.

Crawford's path to the NFL is anything but conventional. Growing up on the basketball court, he didn't strap on a football helmet until his senior year of high school. That inexperience shows up on tape at times—he's still learning the nuances of the game. But don't let that fool you. The Arkansas State transfer is an explosive athlete with a sky-high ceiling, and he's coming off a season that turned heads across the SEC.

According to Pro Football Focus, Crawford ranked seventh among SEC edge defenders with 43 pressures and finished fifth with an impressive 18.3 percent pass-rush win rate. Those numbers include five sacks and a whopping 12 quarterback hits. While he's still working on refining his hand technique and finding more consistency, his raw athletic ability makes him a tantalizing prospect for a Raiders defense looking to add some pop off the edge.

One area where Crawford could really shine is in line games. Though stunts and twists weren't a major part of his arsenal at Auburn, new defensive coordinator Rob Leonard is likely salivating at the chance to unleash Crawford's quickness and change-of-direction skills in creative pressure packages.

Take this E/T stunt, for example. Crawford lines up as the penetrator, tasked with attacking the left guard. But instead of just firing straight ahead, he takes two vertical steps that force the left tackle to widen and start working for depth. That opens up the B-gap pass rush lane beautifully. Then, Crawford plants his foot, uses his elite movement skills to cross the left tackle's face, and beats the guard to finish with the sack. It's a textbook example of how athleticism can turn a simple stunt into a quarterback's worst nightmare.

For Raiders fans, Crawford represents the kind of developmental gem that could pay huge dividends down the road. He may not be a polished product right now, but with the right coaching and a little patience, the Raiders might have just found their next disruptive force off the edge.