The Houston Texans will have some new faces in the backfield for 2019. One new face is former Central Michigan cornerback Xavier Crawford. The 5-11 speedster has patterned his style of play after some intriguing NFL cornerbacks.
“Yeah, I pay a lot of attention to Brent Grimes,” Crawford told the Houston media on a conference call April 27 after being taken 195th overall in Round 6 of the 2019 NFL draft.
Both Grimes and Crawford have similar height and weight comparisons. Grimes 5-10 and 185 pounds while Crawford is 5-11 and 187 pounds. The Texans coaching staff is certainly hopeful Crawford will have a career in Houston that mirrors Grimes.
When Crawford was at Oregon State for his first three years, new Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Steven Nelson hosted Crawford, and they still keep in contact.
“He’s the guy I like to watch a lot because I know him personally,” said Crawford. “Darius Slay. There’s a bunch of guys I like to watch. I just like to learn a little bit from everybody, because no one’s really the same, but I can learn something from anyone.”
In his final year at Central Michigan Crawford had 12 passes defended with one interception. With a career of 81 total tackles, 30 assisted tackles, and 111 total tackles, Crawford is not afraid to get down and dirty with opposing wide receivers.
With the pairing of second-round pick Lonnie Johnson from Kentucky, general manager Brian Gaine made the attempt to get younger at cornerback. If Crawford pans out, then Houston will have successfully bridged the transition between 35-year-old Johnathan Joseph and the future.
