The Las Vegas Raiders, who were still in Oakland at the time, shocked a lot of people when they selected Clelin Ferrell with the fourth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. It was a selection that came out of nowhere and people immediately questioned the decision. It did not take long for those skeptics to be proven correct, but the question still remained about Maxx Crosby.
Ferrell has not come close to living up to the billing of someone selected fourth overall. Luckily for the Raiders, things evened out as they have gotten first-round production from their fourth-round pick, Maxx Crosby.
Crosby was picked No. 106 in the 2019 NFL Draft but has produced as you would hope that a No. 4 overall pick would. He has turned into one of the most vaunted pass rushers in the NFL through his first three seasons.
As a rookie, the Eastern Michigan product recorded 10 sacks. That number dropped to seven in his second year before recording eight this season. While that may not seem like he is impacting the game as much as other pass rushers, a deeper dive into the statistics would show that he is as disruptive as anyone else.
According to Pro Football Focus, Crosby had a pass-rushing season for the ages with the Raiders. He produced the third-most pressures in a season since 2006 with 100. The only players ahead of him were Aaron Donald with 106 in 2018 and J.J. Watt with 119 in 2014.
While sacks are what people pay attention to, those numbers can sometimes be misleading about how much pressure a player is getting on opposing quarterbacks. A player such as Crosby, despite not having gaudy sack numbers, is someone opposing offenses are arguably more afraid of because he is constantly blowing up plays in the backfield for the Raiders.
In addition to the 100 pressures, Crosby registered 30 quarterback hits on the season. That is a sign of how much more of a disruptor he became this season, as he had only 27 quarterback hits in his first two seasons in the NFL combined.
A big reason for that is likely the addition of Yannick Ngaokue opposite him. Ngaokue is also a great pass rusher, so having two bookends like that will open things up as teams cannot double team both players.
The improvements of the Raiders defense are a big reason that they are going to be playing in the postseason despite everything that the organization has been involved in this season. Maxx Crosby sets the tone upfront and everyone else follows suit in the unit.
