Would you say that there are 10 better pass rushing units in the NFL than the Raiders? ESPN would say that. It's the premise of their latest rankings, "2024 NFL sack projections: Top 50 pass rushers, top 10 duos." And while I'm sure there's maybe a couple reasons they wrote this, I'm going to assume the major one was insulting Raiders fans.
But apparently a group of Maxx Crosby, Malcolm Koonce, Christian Wilkins, and I guess technically Tyree Wilson isn't enough to impress the worldwide leader, who ranked a team above them that currently employs a pass rusher that refuses to actually play for them. It's all very scientific.
ESPN's pass-rushing rankings are the perfect thing to be needlessly mad at
"Crosby has at least one thing going for him relative to his peers: He plays more than anyone else. Crosby was on the field an astonishing 95% of the Raiders' defensive snaps a season ago. Those extra snaps (even Garrett and Parsons played only 81%) provide extra opportunities, and a few of them will result in sacks. Crosby's forecast is held back by the Raiders' preseason projected win total (6.5) and his lack of elite win rate metrics the past two seasons."
I feel like "always being on the field" should probably weigh more than it does in these rankings, but also this is a Raiders blog so of course I feel that way. Not being a top-10 pass rushing unit would be a let down this season, and it feels like a weird prediction considering how many other people whose job it is to talk about football absolutely love the Raiders' front seven. Like, the Bengals?! In this economy?
I don't get it, which obviously means that the only rationale response is to get mad at it. ESPN snubs the Raiders, that's the theme we're running with all year.