It has been anything but a banner year for the Las Vegas Raiders during the 2025 NFL season. At 2-13, winless once again in the AFC West and getting blown out in more than half of their contests, the Silver and Black have faded into irrelevancy this year like never before.
That said, the Raiders still have a handful of viable pieces to build around, like Maxx Crosby, Ashton Jeanty, Kolton Miller and Brock Bowers. They've also got a smattering of promising players on rookie deals like Tre Tucker, Darien Porter, Jack Bech and Jackson Powers-Johnson.
With little team success comes little recognition for even the team's greatest stars, but Las Vegas still has an encouraging future if it plays its cards right. Oh, and two players, Crosby and Bowers, are still getting their flowers for their performance in what has been a nightmare campaign.
Maxx Crosby, Brock Bowers land on AFC Pro Bowl roster
On Tuesday, the NFL announced the Pro Bowl rosters for the 2025 season. Both Bowers and Crosby were selected for the AFC team, cementing themselves once again among the best in the league at their position and providing a silver lining for them and the fan base.
This will be Crosby's fifth-straight Pro Bowl appearance, as his reign of dominance began in 2021. He has recorded 10.0 sacks and 28 tackles for loss this season, the latter of which is both a career-high and the second-most in the league, only to the Cleveland Browns' Myles Garrett.
Bowers, on the other hand, has seen a downtick in his production, but is still considered among the NFL's elite. After a record-setting rookie year, Bowers has caught 64 passes for 680 yards and a career-best seven touchdowns.
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Crosby will be joined on the defensive line by Garrett and the Houston Texans' Will Anderson Jr., as well as AFC West rivals Chris Jones from the Kansas City Chiefs and Zach Allen from the Denver Broncos. Jeffrey Simmons from the Tennessee Titans will round out the room.
Joining Bowers at the tight end position on the AFC roster is legendary Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. For the NFC, it will be the Arizona Cardinals' Trey McBride and the San Francisco 49ers' George Kittle. What elite company for the young player to be in, in a down year, no less.
There were several other solid performances from Raiders players like Jeanty, Eric Stokes and even Jeremy Chinn during the 2025 NFL season, but none earned this prestigeous honor. Hopefully, the team is better next year, and even more players can reap the benefits.