Pass rushers are hard to find. Those are Jon Gruden’s words, not mine. A year ago, he said that after the Raiders traded Khalil Mack and couldn’t get after the quarterback to save their lives. The Raiders ranked last in the NFL with 13 sacks in the NFL in 2018-2019. For context, the Patriots and Giants were tied for 31st with 30 sacks. Oakland was that terrible getting after the quarterback a year ago. The Raiders have been night and day better at getting after the quarterback this year. They have one man to thank for that. His name is Maxx Crosby who has rectified the pass rushing unit almost by himself.
The Raiders through 11 games have 26 sacks. They have doubled their sack total from a year ago. Maxx Crosby has been the Raiders best sack artist. Crosby, the rookie from Eastern Michigan, has 7.5 sacks on the season. All of them have come since Week 5. That was the first Week that Crosby entered the starting lineup. The 4th round pick has 5.5 sacks the last 3 weeks. Crosby is quickly becoming a feared edge rusher. He’s also attacking the football forcing 3 fumbles on the season too.
Crosby has made up for how disappointing Clelin Ferrell is. The number 4 pick in the draft had no business being the number 4 pick in the draft. He has started every game this year and has less than half the number of sacks Crosby does. Ferrell looks exactly what I thought he would be. Another Kevin Dodd or Shaq Lawson. It was a huge reach by Oakland. Meanwhile, Josh Allen who should have been taken in the spot has been a monster for Jacksonville all year. The good news is Crosby has made that mistake not look as egregious as it was.
The Raiders are slowly recovering from the Khalil Mack trade. I know sacks aren’t everything but Crosby has more sacks than Mack does. Maxx Crosby is one reason why the trade doesn’t look so bad anymore. Mike Mayock nailed this one. Crosby is a building block for the Raiders moving forward. Oakland finally has a real pass rusher again.
