Raiders sign three draft picks

The Oakland Raiders have announce the signing of three of their six 2012 draft picks. The players signed are fifth round pick DE Jack Crawford, sixth round pick DT Christo Bilukidi, and seventh round pick LB Nathan Stupar.

The players are the first draft selections to sign contracts from the 2012 class. Previous to this, the Raiders were among just five teams who had yet to sign a draft pick. The remaining picks yet to sign are third round pick OL Tony Bergstrom, fourth round pick LB Miles Burris, and fifth round pick (compensatory) WR Juron Criner.

There was no rush to sign any draft picks as the team has a few months before camp when the players need to be under contract to practice. And with these three signing, we can expect the other three to be under contract in short order.

Here is a little about the signed players:

Jack Crawford (6-5, 274), was drafted in the fifth round (158th overall) by the Raiders this year. He played four years at Penn State, seeing action in 13 games as a senior and totaling 42 tackles with 6.5 sacks for losses totaling 39 yards. Crawford also recorded six passes defended and two fumble recoveries.

A native of London, England, Crawford played in 10 games with seven starts as a junior and started every game at defensive end as a sophomore. He played both defensive tackle and tight end as a freshman. He moved to the United States as a high-school sophomore in 2005 and excelled in basketball before beginning his football career.

Christo Bilukidi (6-5, 311), was the Raiders' sixth-round selection (189th overall) in this year's NFL Draft. He was a two-year starter at Georgia State after transferring from Eastern Arizona Junior College. Bilukidi recorded 10 career sacks, establishing a Georgia State program record, and posted 16 career tackles for loss.

As a senior, Bilukidi led the team with five sacks and nine tackles for loss. He also collected 38 tackles, one pass defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He led the team with five sacks as a junior. Born in Angola, Bilukidi has lived in Canada, France and Brazil.

Nathan Stupar (6-2, 238), was selected by the Raiders in the seventh round (230th overall) of this year's draft. As a senior at Penn State, he ranked third on the team with 80 tackles, and recorded 5.5 tackles for loss, including two sacks on the season. He also recorded two passes defensed and two fumble recoveries.

The native of State College, Pa., ranked third on the team with 73 tackles and posted one interception, one forced fumble and four passes defensed as a junior. He also blocked two punts as a freshman. Stupar was named Academic All-Big-Ten three times during his collegiate career.