I honestly feel bad for Maxx Crosby.
In the entire league, I’m not sure there’s a guy who tries harder week to week than Crosby — a belief backed up by his absurd snap count and tackle rate. And yet, how often does it feel like he’s doing so on an island?
2022 was his fourth in the league, and despite his own individual ascension into the DPOY conversation, the unit around him remains underwhelming at best.
New defensive coordinator? Splashy new pass-rusher opposite him? A trade for a starting corner?
Same old Las Vegas Raiders defense.
Scoring defense? 27th. Opponent yards per game? 26th. Red zone touchdown rate? 30th. Third down rate? 25th.
All despite having one of the 3-5 most disruptive defensive players in the game.
Woof.
Defensive MVP: Maxx Crosby
He won’t win the Defensive Player of the Year award thanks to Nick Bosa’s super-human year, but Crosby will rightfully be “on the podium”.
Despite being surrounded by a supporting cast that left him double-teamed nearly every play, Crosby finished with 12.5 sacks (t7th), 88 tackles (more than any other player in the top 39 for sacks), 22 tackles for loss (1st), 35 QB hits (2nd), three forced fumbles (t6th) — all while playing nearly every snap. The fact that he is an elite pass-rusher AND an elite run-defender make the four-year, $99 million extension he signed last off-season look like a steal.
Honorable Mention: none
Defensive LVP: Chandler Jones
When General Manager Dave Ziegler and Head Coach Josh McDaniels joined the Raiders, they had enough salary cap space to make at least one big swing — which they used to lure former Patriot Chandler Jones to town with a 3-year, $51 million contract.
To say that it was an absolute disaster would somehow be underselling it.
While McDaniels tried to tell us how well Jones was playing despite not really showing up in the box score, neither the tape nor the stats seemed to agree with that assessment. In 15 games, Jones notched just 4.5 sacks, 38 tackles (3 TFL) and 15 QB hits. In fact, three of those sacks were all concentrated in one game (Week 13 win over the Chargers), meaning in the other 14 games he played, he notched just 1.5 sacks.
For $17 million, the Raiders could have — and needed to — do a lot better.
Honorable Mention: Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham
He didn’t get dealt a winning hand as far as talent goes, but it’s hard to believe there weren’t other coaches who could have gotten more out of this group (especially while they were healthy at the beginning of the season).
2023 Outlook
As far as building blocks go, Crosby and cornerback Nate Hobbs are probably the only two guys from this defense that you feel good about who is under contract in 2023.
The free agents include solid contributors like Denzel Perryman and Rock Ya-Sin, but neither guy feels like they’ll generate that much buzz in free agency. Clelin Ferrell, Andrew Billings, Jerry Tillery, Jayon Brown, Anthony Averett and Duron Harmon are the other contributors from 2022 who is all set to hit free agency, with most, if not all, likely to find employment elsewhere.
With their entire catalog of draft picks (and then some), including a top-seven pick at their disposal, the Raiders need to find a handful of starters in the draft if this unit is to be competitive. Assuming they move on from Derek Carr, they’ll have upwards of $50 million in cap space as well — although last spring’s spending makes me question whether or not we should be too excited about that.
