Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby is a Pro Bowl lock (five years running now) and a TFL machine—so why is the league still acting like he’s an afterthought?
Crosby makes the Pro Bowl again, racks up tackles for loss at a historic clip, drags a struggling roster with him every Sunday, and still somehow ends up treated like the league’s best-kept open secret. Only in the NFL could a pass rusher produce at an all-time level and be told, politely of course, to take a number behind Myles Garrett.
Garrett is spectacular; no one’s arguing that. However, the idea that Crosby is merely the understudy in someone else’s awards campaign is the kind of narrative that thrives when national attention drifts toward winning records rather than complete football players.
Is Maxx Crosby being unfairly compared to his peers?
Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham tried to sidestep the comparison, saying, “I don’t like to draw comparisons. I mean, Myles Garrett’s a good player, a great player. Maxx is a great player.” But in dodging the debate, he underscored the point. The issue is not whether Garrett is elite—he is. It is how often Crosby’s brilliance gets buried because he lacks the roster, record or narrative boost others enjoy. Crosby is producing in spite of his environment, not because of it.
Graham did offer the more revealing truth: “If you single him up in the pass rush, he’s going to win.” Offensive coordinators know it. Offensive linemen feel it. Quarterbacks, especially those in the AFC West, have nightmares that begin with No. 98 screaming off the edge. But what separates Crosby is his completeness. Graham pointed to the run defense—“tackles for loss, setting the edge”—and emphasized that Crosby is not simply a hustle merchant: “His plays aren’t just hustle; this guy’s skilled.”
That distinction matters…
In an era obsessed with sack totals and highlight-reel strip plays, Crosby’s value comes from being a fully formed defender. The league will celebrate Garrett’s athletic marvels, but Crosby lives in the margins where elite football actually happens. We’re talking about hand usage, leverage, run fits, gap integrity, and play-to-play relentlessness. He’s the rare defensive end who can dominate a game without the box score screaming his name.
And maybe that is why he remains overshadowed. Garrett fits the archetype of the prototype; Crosby embodies the archetype of the overachiever—except he is not overachieving anymore. He is simply elite.
If the Raiders ever give Crosby a defense worthy of his talent, the conversation will stop being about Garrett vs. Crosby. It will shift to something far more inconvenient for the rest of the league: how did they let the most complete edge rusher in football operate in plain sight for so long?
Do you feel that No. 98 gets overshadowed by the league, Raider Nation?
*Top Photo: Associated Press/Zach Bolinger