Las Vegas Raiders: Maxx Crosby at the doorstep of being all-time great
By Brad Weiss
Since being drafted in 2019, Maxx Crosby has been a superstar player for the Raiders, and is on the doorstep of being an all-time great.
With pick No. 4 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft, the Raiders franchise decided to bring in an edge rusher in Clemson star, Clelin Ferrell. At the time, the pick was seen as a stretch, especially with Kentucky’s Josh Allen on the board, someone considered the No. 2 edge rusher in the class behind Nick Bosa.
Seen as a stretch at the time, the pick of Ferrell soon became a bust, as he has yet to become a star at the NFL level, and is more of a depth piece at this point. However, the 2019 NFL Draft did yield a superstar edge rusher for the Silver and Black, he just happened to be picked on Day 3, as Eastern Michigan star Maxx Crosby has dominated the NFL landscape through his first four seasons in the league.
After racking up ten sacks as a rookie, and putting himself on the map, Crosby has consistently gotten better. Now, a victim of double teams and holding on nearly every play, Madd Maxx has become a real terror for opposing quarterbacks and is widely regarded as one of the best young defensive players in the NFL.
This past season, Crosby not only led the Raiders with 12.5 sacks, but he also led them in tackles, something almost unheard of from a defensive end. Entering his age 26-season, Crosby is just getting started and could finish his career as an all-time Raiders great.
Raiders building around Madd Maxx
This past March, on the anniversary of his sobriety, Crosby signed a four-year extension with the Raiders, locking up their franchise defensive end for the foreseeable future. Already in the top-15 all-time in sacks in franchise history, Crosby would vault into No. 9 overall if he could duplicate his 2022 performance next season.
The Raiders franchise has some incredible names atop their list of career sacks, including Greg Townsend, the only man with over 100, and Howie Long, a career Raider and Hall of Famer. With a few more solid seasons, Crosby has the chance to vault into the top 3, and with the way he works, and his love for the franchise, you have to think he is just getting started.
The expectation is that the Silver and Black can take the next step forward in 2023, and to do so, Crosby will once again have to lead the way on the defensive side of the ball. He has been a perfect Raider since joining the franchise back in 2019, and when all is said and done, could be one of the greatest players to ever put on a Raiders uniform.