2012 NFL Draft: Penn State defensive end Jack Crawford drafted by Oakland Raiders

Penn State defensive end Jack Crawford has been drafted by the Oakland Raiders. Crawford was drafted with the 158th overall pick in the fifth round.

Crawford was the third Penn State player to be drafted in this year’s NFL Draft. Crawford’s defensive line-mate, defensive tackle Devon Still, was taken in the second round by the Cincinnati Bengals. Prior to Crawford going to Oakland, offensive guard Johnnie Troutman was taken earlier in the fifth round by the San Diego Chargers.

Dating back to 1971, the Oakland Raiders have drafted ten Penn State players. Crawford’s pick also moved Penn State past the Texas Longhorns on the all-time list of players drafted in the NFL Draft. Crawford was Penn State’s 328th all-time player to be drafted, breaking a tie with the Longhorns at the time. Penn State is now eighth all-time in total NFL Draft picks, and creeping up on Tennessee, with 330 all-time picks as of Crawford’s draft selection.

Crawford is the first defensive end drafted in the NFL Draft out of Penn State since Aaron Maybin was selected in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills. He is now the fifth defensive end to be selected in the NFL Draft under defensive line coach Larry Johnson at Penn State. This is the second straight year the Raiders drafted a Penn State player, after drafting center Stefen Wisniewski in the second round last year. Before 2011 the last time the Raiders drafted a Nittany Lions was in 1994.