Oakland Raiders: Who will start at DE opposite Clelin Ferrell?

Maxx Crosby

Maxx Crosby was drafted in the fourth round of this year’s draft and won’t be expected to be a starter this year as a result. That said, the position is wide open and there isn’t much proven starter talent above him — so he does have a chance.

Crosby had an amazing showing at the combine putting up numbers that translate to elite athleticism as seen in this Reddit post by U/EonKayoh where he uses combine numbers of past players to create a metric to give them a grade (all of which is explained in links in the article).

The metric ranks Crosby as a “Tier 1 Everything” guy along with Josh Allen, Anthony Nelson, and Brian Burns. He classifies this tier as any player who, “…should be successful in the NFL regardless of scheme. Just put him on the edge and let him hunt.”

Many edge rushers have raw athleticism such as Nelson who was put in the same tier, but some still don’t have the bend or flexibility shown on the play above. This list had Arden Key on it last year — also as a Tier 1 guy — and he finished last year with only 1.0 sack, so of course, this doesn’t mean everything or maybe anything.

But Crosby doesn’t just get by on his athleticism.

As seen in the above play, he uses a rip move to get up under the offensive lineman and make the tackle. Most scouting reports note his hand technique and use of his length as strengths, so he’s not exactly a raw player in that sense.

Where Crosby needs to get better is at the point of attack and that is due to a lack of strength and need to fill out the rest of his frame. General Manager Mike Mayock made this clear in his draft call with Crosby, asking him, “Because you need to get stronger right? You know that right?”

Crosby is not expected to be the starter by many, but he is a player who was offered only one Division I scholarship and made it to the NFL by beating out more prestigious recruits.

So it’s not as if he hasn’t beat the odds before.