The Las Vegas Raiders have no shortage of things to address this offseason, none bigger than finding a head coach and general manager to lead Sin City moving forward. Once that’s done, focus will begin shifting towards free agency, where seven of Las Vegas’ 11 starters on defense are set to hit the open market. In the meantime, Maxx Crosby has some words of praise for upcoming free agent Najee Harris.
On his podcast, The Rush with Maxx Crosby, Sin City’s All-Pro edge rusher was asked if Harris could suit up in the Silver and Black this offseason.
“Why not?,” Crosby said in response. “Najee’s a baller. Anybody that could help when it comes to winning, and being a culture guy, a leader. That’s the type of guys you want around. And you see Najee, he’s played four years in the league, he’s had 1,000 yards every single season. That alone is extremely impressive.”
I would love to have a guy like Najee around.”
To Crosby’s point, Harris is indeed a leader. He proved that his rookie campaign, being voted a team captain prior to totaling any amount of snaps in the National Football League.
Harris does, in fact, help win football games as well. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 campaign proved that especially true.
Pittsburgh, who finished their season with 10 wins and seven losses, leaned on the run game to propel them into the postseason. Although the Steelers were one-of-eight clubs league-wide to average less than 200.0 passing yards per contest, joining the Philadelphia Eagles as the only teams over .500 to do so, that didn’t stop Pittsburgh from finishing in the top-half of the league via points per contest with a mark of 22.4.
None of that would’ve been possible without Najee Harris.
Las Vegas Raiders superstar Maxx Crosby wants Najee Harris – as would Ben Johnson
When it comes to Ben Johnson and the Raiders, many are quick to point out Sin City’s lack of a quarterback, questioning why Johnson would want to coach somewhere that doesn’t have the most important position in football figured out. In truth, that shouldn’t be too big of a concern.
The run-game, however, which makes Detroit’s offense so dominant, cannot be duplicated in Las Vegas. Not with the team’s current players at the position, at least.
Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery are two high-caliber backs that serve as the motor to the Lions’ offense. That’s evident by the 534 rushing attempts Detroit totaled as a team during their ’24 campaign; the third-most league-wide. With 29 touchdowns on the ground, only the Buffalo Bills were able to earn a higher mark.
Of course, 12 of Buffalo’s touchdowns were by way of their quarterback. Jared Goff, on the other hand, accounted for zero of his team’s rushing scores. Without counting quarterback rushing touchdowns, Detroit finished their season with eight more scores on the ground than any other team league-wide.
With such efficiency out of the backfield, all a quarterback has to do is be more efficient than he is good – such was the case for Jared Goff in 2024, who also happens to be quite good.
The efficiency is what made the Lions’ pass-attack so ferocious; not a continuous highlight real of passes other signal callers wouldn’t dare attempt. With Johnson’s play-calling and Goff’s ability to stay on-schedule, Detroit’s quarterback ended his season with a 72.4% completion percentage.
This stands as his career-high by over 5.0%.
That’s what Ben Johnson can help a quarterback do, so long as they’re able to stay on-schedule. But first, he’ll need a premier running back or two: enter, Najee Harris.
*Top Photo: Steve Marcus/AP
Can The Las Vegas Raiders Convince Ben Johnson To Be Their Head Coach?