Maxx Crosby has been the Raiders’ best edge rusher since the team selected him in the fourth round of the 2019 draft.
But he became a Pro Bowler and a second-team All-Pro for the first time last season, recording 8.0 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, 30 QB hits, and seven passes defensed.
Though Las Vegas welcomed in a new regime this offseason, Crosby still received a four-year, $98.98 million extension to solidify his status with the team.
Now Crosby is trying to take the next step in his development and stack good years together. Head coach Josh McDaniels said on Thursday Crosby is well on his way to accomplishing that.
“He’s doing it because he does it every day,” McDaniels said in his press conference. “What happens when you get noticed or people see what you’ve done and accomplished in a year, or your short time in the league, and then what happens when you get recognized like that? Because now, it’s different. Because there are people that know he’s been very disruptive, very productive in his role. It takes more from that person to continue to ascend and continue to produce at that same level or beyond it, which I know is what Maxx wants to do.
“He does everything every day that you could ask a player to do to help himself get better and help our team get better. There’s no greater compliment that I could give him than that. There’s nothing else I would tell him, ‘You need to do A, B, and C’ — he’s already doing them. He brings a lot of his teammates with him. He sets the standard for our work ethic, the way we practice, how we go about our jobs, how he is in the meetings. Everything that you would want from a player that’s trying to ascend, he’s doing it.”
In 2022, Crosby has the benefit of working with defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and opposite edge rusher Chandler Jones. If Crosby can put it all together, things are setting up for him to have his best season yet.
