The Las Vegas Raiders have undergone countless changes in recent years, but Maxx Crosby and Kolton Miller remain proof that loyalty and leadership still matter.
Pro Football Focus released its All-PFF team covering the past 20 years across every NFL franchise, and for the Las Vegas Raiders, the exercise was more indictment than celebration.
Two active players made the roster: Crosby and Miller. Their inclusion is deserved while the context surrounding them is sobering.
PFF was direct in its assessment of the franchise’s defensive history. “The Raiders finished below league average in points allowed in 19 of the 20 seasons during the PFF era,” the outlet wrote, “making this one of the weaker defensive rosters in the series. The saving grace is at the top, where Khalil Mack and Maxx Crosby stand out as the two best defensive players in franchise history under this methodology.”
Nineteen of 20 seasons…
That is not a slump; rather, it’s a structural failure sustained across coaching staffs, front offices and ownership transitions. For a franchise that once defined defensive identity in the AFC, the number is a verdict.
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Which makes Crosby’s standing more remarkable, not less. Drafted in the fourth round in 2019, he has spent every season of his NFL career in Las Vegas. He is a two-time second-team All-Pro honoree and has twice finished in the top six in AP Defensive Player of the Year voting. He produced at an elite level while the organization around him cycled through dysfunction. That is not a minor achievement.
Miller’s career mirrors that of his teammate. Selected in the first round out of UCLA in 2018, he has consistently protected the blindside of every starting quarterback for the Raiders, including Derek Carr, Aidan O’Connell, and Geno Smith, all while never playing for another team. He is known for being quiet, durable, and professional.
Both men are reminders that continuity and character are not abstract values. They are competitive assets. The Raiders spent years failing to build around players like these. The current front office, with Klint Kubiak and John Spytek now in charge, should study what Crosby and Miller represent and treat it as a blueprint, not a coincidence.
*Top Photo: Ramble Illustration/Getty Images