The Las Vegas Raiders’ core roster for 2020 will likely be similar to their 2019 edition. Although names will change and new players will come in, the roster will largely composed of young players looking to overachieve once again.
One of those players that has overachieved has been Maxx Crosby. Taken in the fourth round, nobody expected the Eastern Michigan University product to be a Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate.
Crosby ended up leading the Raiders with 10 sacks, second-best for any rookie in the NFL. Although those numbers are already great, everyone is hoping he can keep it up and improve in his second season, including former Yankees pitcher and Raider fan CC Sabathia.
Although the start of the season is many months off, Crosby is already putting the work in. According to general manager Mike Mayock, Crosby has been reaching out every day of the offseason to let him know of his progress, via Jerry McDonald of the Bay Area News Group:
G.M. Mike Mayock on #Raiders DE Maxx Crosby: `What I love about Maxx, I get texts from him almost every day, telling me what he's doing, why he's getting better, how he's getting better.'
— Jerry McDonald (@Jerrymcd) February 25, 2020
Although Crosby exceeded many expectations, he could not fool the man that drafted him. Mayock shared that he believed Crosby’s drive led him to have his big season. To continue to impress Mayock even after the season has ended really shows just how hard of a worker Crosby is.
Many are waiting for Crosby’s teammate Clelin Ferrell to get to that same level. Ferrell was drafted in the first round last year and had some moments during his rookie season, but still left something to be desired. He and Crosby both had big games against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 10, where the duo announced their nicknames of “Salt and Peppa.” Hopefully, both Salt and Peppa will bring back some more defensive strength for the Raiders next season.
