As someone who follows one team exclusively — whether that’s as a beat reporter or a fan — it’s important to every now and then make sure the opinions you have formed on certain players are just based on comparisons to their teammates or their NFL peers.
That is especially true on a team that has been as bad as the Raiders have been this season on both sides of the ball.
Take Maxx Crosby for example.
Several times of late I’ve found myself talking of the Raiders by saying something along the lines of ‘with the exception of Maxx Crosby…’ whether that’s with regard to the poor play of the defensive line, the defense as a whole, or even the entire team.
Rich Gannon recently said something similar.
Then you step outside the bubble and you realize that Crosby doesn’t simply stand out on an otherwise bad Raiders team, he stands out when compared with the entire league.
Here’s a stat that illustrates that nicely.
NFL leaders in Defeats
M.Crosby LV 21 #RaiderNation
Z.Smith MIN 19 #Skol
Z.Franklin IND, B.Okereke IND, C.Wilkins MIA 18DT: D.Payne WAS 17
DB: T.Hufanga SF, J.Ramsey LAR 15Defeats: TO + TFL + plays to prevent 3/4 down conversion.
Crosby is the whole Raiders D.
— Aaron Schatz 🏈 (@FO_ASchatz) November 16, 2022
Here, Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders compiles turnovers, tackles for loss, and plays to stop a drive to come up with one number. And Maxx Crosby tops the league in that category with 21 such plays.
Whether this figure would make him an All Pro at his position remains to be seen. Unfortunately he plays at a position that puts a considerable premium on one stat along — sacks.
Crosby has seven sacks on the season, which is still pretty good, but lands him currently at 10th overall.
There is still time for him to climb that ladder in terms of sack numbers, which would mainly serve to open the eyes of those who might place more weight on that stat. But he clearly has the overall numbers to prove he is indeed the best all-around edge rusher in the NFL.
