Silver Minings: PFF names Maxx Crosby the NFL's most improved player

Maxx Crosby was a raw fourth-round pick out of Eastern Michigan when he heard his name called in 2019. The Las Vegas Raiders took Crosby to expect he would get stronger and develop into his elite athletic profile.

In his first season, he recorded 10 sacks and exceeded expectations, with plenty of buzz going into year two, which ended up a disappointment when his sacks fell to seven on the season, and he became a worse player versus the run.

After finding out, other factors were leading to his struggles last season Crosby is off to a hot start. He is on pace for 114 pressures on the season using PFF metrics. That same website named him the most improved player in NFL through seven weeks.

“The easiest answer is Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby, who is PFF’s highest-graded (91.4) edge defender this season after earning a 61.6 overall PFF grade through the first two seasons of his NFL career. In just seven games, Crosby has seven sacks, 12 QB hits and 47 total pressures. He’s already set a career-high in QB hits, and he’s one dominant pass rush away from his top mark in pressures. Crosby has also been a dependable run defender (74.3 grade) this season.”

The growth of Crosby is tremendous and combined with Yannick Ngakoue, and they created an incredible tandem. With those two as the defensive ends, it becomes havoc for opposing offenses.

In other Raiders’ links:

• What they are saying about the Raiders: Raiders.com looks at the hot takes around the league when it comes to Las Vegas.
• Raiders Mailbag: Las Vegas Review-Journal takes questions from Raiders fans about the season.
• Tape Don’t Lie Carr Fax breakdown: TDL has its weekly Carr Fax breaking down everything Derek Carr.