Why Maxx Crosby Has The TOUGHEST Job Of Any Defender In The NFL This Season...

Breaking down the Raiders' defensive unit around Maxx Crosby

Transcript

00:00Las Vegas Raiders pass rusher Max Crosby is an unquestioned superstar and he may carry a

00:05heavier burden than any other defender in football in 2025. I'm Kyle Krabs with AtoZ Sports and

00:15there's plenty of players across the league that carry a heavy burden for the year ahead,

00:19but no player may have a heavier load of responsibility than Las Vegas Raiders defensive

00:25end. Max Crosby. Crosby, of course, signed a contract extension earlier this spring to keep

00:31him well compensated and in position to serve as the face of the Raiders defense and the Raiders

00:37will need him to live up to every bit of his expectation as an endless effort player and one

00:44of the best pass rushers in the league. When you look at the Raiders on defense, there's a lot of

00:47new names on the second level, including Jermaine Pratt, who was a recent addition in free agency,

00:53but then Elan and Roberts and Devin White as the other stack off ball linebackers are traditional

00:58plug players. They don't really give you a lot of value on passing downs. You look at the rest of

01:03the Raiders defensive line and Christian Wilkins is coming off of a foot injury that leaves his

01:09current status even in question as Pete Carroll didn't give a very encouraging update the last

01:15time that he spoke about Wilkins and his foot injury. Wilkins played less than 25% of the Raiders

01:20snaps last year after signing a contract with the team that paid him on average $27.5 million per

01:26season. Malcolm Koontz was once a promising emerging pass rusher to serve as a running mate

01:31with Max Crosby in Las Vegas, but he too had a season ending injury last year and former first

01:37round draft choice Tyree Wilson has more questions than answers as far as his profile as a pass rushing

01:43player. Now, Adam Butler is a nice pass rushing piece for the Raiders upfront, but certainly not to the

01:49caliber of Crosby. And when you look at the other question that exists within the front,

01:53it's fair to say that Max Crosby is the pillar and cornerstone for Las Vegas, more so arguably in

02:00my mind than any other defensive player within their respective defensive front. And that's before you get

02:06to the secondary where the Raiders get a contract extension done with Isaiah Polamalu and Jeremy Chin as

02:11the other safety signed in free agency this off season is a piece that showed signs of life and living up to

02:17his potential finally under Dan Quinn with Washington in 2024. But the corner situation

02:23is mystery. Jack Jones is gone. Nate Hobbs is gone. And in their place is names like Eric Stokes,

02:30a former first round draft choice with the Packers who has yet to come close to living up to lofty

02:36expectations. Ja'Korian Bennett can certainly fly and run, but can he cover? These are the kinds of

02:41questions that the Raiders have up and down the defense in an AFC West that has quite the arms race

02:47underway with Sean Payton in the Denver Broncos and Jim Harbaugh in the Los Angeles Chargers. And of

02:52course, Patrick Holmes and the Kansas City Chiefs who have won this division nine times running. So

02:58if the Raiders are going to make any noise in Pete Carroll's first season, their offensive overhaul

03:03will likely have a lot to do with that. But if they're going to have the pulse that they need on

03:07defense, Crosby has to wear the crown as one of the faces of the league and the Raiders' best defender

03:13by a mile.

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