NFL.com predicts the Raiders’ team MVP for the 2024 season

For the first time in a while, the Las Vegas Raiders have multiple stars on both sides of the ball. For the offense, both Kolton Miller and Davante Adams are among the best in the league at their position, and on the defensive side, Maxx Crosby and Christian Wilkins are both considered elite.

So, when it came to NFL.com's Eric Edholm’s prediction regarding each team’s MVP, I was unsure of who it would be. However, who he settled on is ultimately the best answer, and some of his other predictions should excite Raider Nation. 

Maxx Crosby is the Raiders’ projected MVP

It is hard to overstate just how important a player like Crosby is. Even if you ignore his prolific statistical contributions, you must also factor in the attention that he gets from opposing offenses, which opens lanes for his teammates to be successful as well.

However, perhaps the most important impact he has on his teammates is in the realm of leadership. He is both the physical and spiritual leader of the Silver and Black in addition to being perhaps the most well-rounded edge rusher in the league, so he is the obvious choice for Raiders preseason MVP. 

"I thought long and hard about Davante Adams here, as the Raiders present nearly the ideal situation for giving a wide receiver this honor," Edholm wrote. "The QB situation lacks pizzazz, but you could make a case for Aidan O'Connell and Gardner Minshew combining to play solid ball while Adams puts up another banner season. Truthfully, though, I felt like Adams was good, not great, in 2023, and this offense has just a few too many questions for me, overall."

It is true that the offense has a few question marks, although I think there are fewer than most imply. While we technically need to replace two starters on the offensive line, I feel that Thayer Munford and Jackson Powers-Johnson will fill those roles just fine, and if not, the Raiders have some very solid veteran depth pieces.

Zamir White is very promising as well, and though he likely won’t match Josh Jacobs’ production, he might not need to. What the Raiders have is a running back collective filled with a diversity of talents that can be employed how and when Luke Getsy sees fit. 

If Adams has a season like he did in 2022 (his first season as a Raider) then I could easily see him being the team’s MVP by the end of the season. This is not to discredit Crosby, but the offense may need the help more than the defense does.

A boost like Adams being a First-Team All-Pro could completely change the trajectory of the offense and the season. Right now, I think we know who the defense is, but we don’t know exactly who the offense will be. If Adams is up to the task and carries the group with him, it would be hard to argue that he is the team’s most valuable. 

"From there (no disrespect to left tackle Kolton Miller), I boiled this choice down to one of the Raiders' two top-notch defensive linemen," Edholm continued. "And as great as Christian Wilkins is individually, I went with Crosby because of his statistical dominance, and because of the fact that he's generated game-changing plays at a higher rate throughout his career. Bringing in Wilkins could do wonders for Crosby, who to this point has wreaked incredible havoc without having a ton of elite-level help alongside him. There's this worry in the back of my head that Crosby's long-term longevity might become a concern in a few years, given that he's been logging a lot of snaps lately, but I honestly wouldn't put a 20-sack, 30-tackles-for-loss and five-forced-fumble type of season past him in 2024. And the Raiders might need every single play they can get out of him, given that they currently seem to be built to try to win a lot of 20-17 games."

First of all, I love that Miller is starting to be recognized as the elite player that he has been for so many consecutive seasons. He has been the lifeblood of the Raiders' offensive line room and he brings both veteran leadership and a bit of nasty to the offensive line that is hard to find but in the very fabric of being a Raider. 

Second of all: wow. Can you imagine a Raider recording 20+ sacks? This would be the highest single-season mark in the storied history of the Raiders franchise and would place Crosby among the 20 best individual edge rusher seasons of all time.

It has been said all offseason that the pairing of Wilkins with Crosby can only benefit both of them, and it is absolutely true. Adam Butler, John Jenkins, Bilal Nichols and Jerry Tillery held it down last season in the trenches for Las Vegas, but none of these players are of Wilkins’ caliber. 

I am going to ignore the assertions that Maxx Crosby’s style of play and availability are jeopardizing his longevity, and instead choose to focus on this season. After all, he was able to gut out a knee injury all of 2023 that he sustained in week 2, and he recorded 14.5 sacks along the way. Maxx is a warrior and if he can walk, he will be out there on the field. There is no use in being bothered by projected injuries.