Texans select Central Michigan CB Xavier Crawford 195th overall

The 2019 NFL Draft has been a memorable one for Central Michigan.

Cornerback Xavier Crawford was selected as the 195th overall pick of the sixth round by the Houston Texans, becoming the second Chippewa cornerback to be drafted in the 2019 NFL Draft. Crawford’s college teammate Sean Bunting was the first MAC player off the board to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the 39th pick in the second round.

Crawford was the 22nd cornerback selected in the draft, and with his selection, Central Michigan joined Washington as the only other team to have two cornerbacks picked. He is the third Central Michigan defensive back to be drafted in the past four drafts, joining Bunting and Cowboys’ safety Kavon Frazier.

Crawford played one full season at Central Michigan in 2018 after transferring from Oregon State, where he played 17 games in 2016 and 2017. As a Chippewa, Crawford intercepted one pass and accumulated 12 passes defended. He finished his junior year in 2018 with 24 tackles and three tackles for loss before declaring for the draft. In 2018, Central Michigan’s secondary allowed the fourth fewest passing yards in the country, allowing 150.7 per game. The unit allowed under six yards per attempt and recorded 10 interceptions to just 11 passing touchdowns allowed.

Prior to Central Michigan and as a freshman at Oregon State, Crawford had 70 tackles, 10 passes defended, and one interception to land a spot on several Freshman All-American teams and All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention.

The cornerback ran an unofficial 4.48-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine and recorded a vertical jump of 37.5 inches. He’ll join a Texans secondary which lost former first round cornerbacks Kareem Jackson and Kevin Johnson this offseason. Houston drafted cornerback Lonnie Johnson Jr. 54th overall in the second round, so Crawford will join the secondary with another rookie of his position.