After a dominant rookie season, defensive end Maxx Crosby headed for the dreaded sophomore slump. He saw his sacks, tackles for a loss and quarterback hits all drop in 2020 despite starting in all 16 games.
However, Crosby did save his best performance for Week 17 as he dominated the Broncos. He finished the game with a sack, but that’s just the beginning of how great he was on Sunday.
According to Pro Football Focus, he tallied seven pressures to go along with two tackles for a loss and two quarterback hits. The site gave him an overall grade of 82.2, his highest of the season.
Maxx Crosby ended his season with his highest graded game of the year 📈
– 82.2 overall grade
– 78.9 run defense grade
– 76.3 pass rush grade (season high)
– 7 pressures#RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/CY421YQTOB— PFF Las Vegas Raiders (@PFF_Raiders) January 4, 2021
Entering 2021, the Raiders are going to need Crosby to play at this level each and every week if they want to improve on defense. It would also help if someone like Clelin Ferrell could stay healthy too, but that is a different story.
Through two years of his NFL career, Crosby has totaled 17 sacks to go along with 30 tackles for a loss and 27 quarterback hits. Considering where he was drafted in 2019, he’s been quite the hit for Mike Mayock and company.
