Originally published by RaidersNewswire.com
One of the best draft picks the Las Vegas Raiders have made in recent years is undoubtedly defensive end Maxx Crosby. The fourth-round pick out of Eastern Michigan has quickly turned into one of the best pass rushers in the NFL, and the Raiders rewarded him with a four-year, $98.9 million contract this offseason.
That contract has now made Crosby the second-highest paid defensive end in the NFL behind only Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns and with that comes increased pressure to deliver. But, so far in training camp, that has been no issue for the Raiders’ star defender.
According to Tashan Reed of The Athletic, Crosby has been unblockable so far in training camp, and have been lining him up in different positions as well:
“Speaking of Crosby, he’s been seemingly unblockable during training camp. He’s been lined up mostly as a defensive end but has also taken snaps at outside linebacker. He looks every bit like an elite edge rusher, which has meant trial by fire for the offensive linemen.”
This is excellent news for the Raiders, and bad news for the rest of the league, as Crosby is already causing so much havoc to opposing quarterbacks. Though he was only credited with eight sacks last season, Crosby lived in the backfield totaling 30 quarterback hits, tied for the fourth most in the NFL. And with Chandler Jones now on the opposite side, it will be even more challenging for teams to load up on Crosby.
Moving Crosby around and having him rush from different areas should allow him to continue his run as one of the toughest players to block in football. And this will further be important for the Raiders as there are some questions surrounding the Raiders’ secondary, and a dominant pass rush can help to ease that pressure.
One thing that is for sure is that Crosby has not rested on his laurels now that he has gotten that big money contract he earned with his performance in his first three years in the league. Crosby has worked hard to continue improving, which is already showing up for the Raiders in training camp.
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