Bookends Setting Tone For O Line

Since he first stepped foot on Oregon's campus, Tyrell Crosby was considered a star left tackle of the future.

With quick feet and long arms, Crosby had all the tools to protect a quarterback's blind side. All but one: confidence. Playful and unassuming, Crosby sometimes had trouble envisioning himself as a dominant, aggressive presence at the line of scrimmage.

"I knew I had the potential," he said. "But I never really, truly believed it."

For Crosby, the future is now. Potential is reality. Entering the final month of his senior season, the 6-foot-5, 320-pound senior from Nevada is playing at an elite level. The website Pro Football Focus rates him the No. 3 left tackle in college football, and projected him as a first-round NFL draft pick.

And for all of that, Crosby may still be underrated – on Monday, UO coach Willie Taggart called him the best offensive tackle in all of college football.

"The kid is unbelievable," Taggart said. "He's a big-time player. He's a war daddy."

Anyone who spends much time around Crosby comes to think of him as much more of a teddy bear than a "war daddy." Anyone, that is, but opposing defensive linemen.

"Any time I address his play, I always tell people, 'Just turn on the tape and watch him perform, watch him execute,'" offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator Mario Cristobal said.

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What the tape shows is a whole lot of nothing, at least as far as defensive statistics go. Crosby has allowed zero sacks in 2017 – zero hits on the quarterback at all, in fact (he wasn't dinged for a sack of quarterback Braxton Burmeister at UCLA on which Taggart later revealed the true freshman signal-caller didn't run the play as designed). Only three times in nine games have Oregon quarterbacks even been hurried by a defender blocked by Crosby.

Given all that, Cristobal agrees with Taggart's assertion that Crosby is the best in the nation.

"You always try to remove yourself so you're not biased, and it doesn't come across like you're gushing over a guy," Cristobal said. "But I can say that without reservation."

Crosby's reaction to such accolades from the coaching staff helps reveal how he earned them.

"I don't know; it made me smile," Crosby said. "But I really feel like I have a lot more to prove. I can play better."

It's that attitude that helped Crosby develop from an athletic but raw prospect into a "war daddy."

Oregon's other bookend on the line, sophomore Calvin Throckmorton, said he's most impressed with Crosby's "relentless pursuit of being better every day – never being complacent in where he's at. Always striving to improve in all aspects of his game."

"He always wants to be the best guy on the field," Throckmorton said. "And he works at that relentlessly, every day."

Three times this season, Crosby has been named to the Pro Football Focus weekly all-Pac-12 team – which is based on objective grades the likes of which coaches assign. Through nine weeks, Crosby is the only offensive tackle rated in the top 11 this season by PFF for both run blocking and pass blocking.

Throckmorton's development hasn't gone unnoticed either. He was named to the PFF all-Pac-12 team following Oregon's game at Stanford.

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"Calvin's had a tremendous, tremendous season," Cristobal said. "Both of those guys, their approach to the game – the way they practice and their football IQ – combined with their energy, they're helping us get better and better each week offensively."

Throckmorton, who said he made significant strength gains to his 6-5, 307-pound frame in the past year, is making a homecoming this week when the Ducks play at Washington on Saturday (7 p.m., FS1). He's a native of Bellevue, the site of Oregon's team hotel for the game in Seattle.

Throckmorton said he began hitting up teammates for tickets to Saturday's game prior to the start of the regular season. A UW fan growing up, he'll play this weekend against the team that first contacted him as a recruit out of Newport High.

One Throckmorton visited Oregon, his allegiance changed.

"As soon as recruiting started, I came to love this place," Throckmorton said. "Now I love Eugene and the Ducks."

In turn, Throckmorton and Crosby have given Oregon coaches and fans plenty to love this season.