Oakland Raiders rookie Maxx Crosby is going to be a key player

The Oakland Raiders’ rookie class is going to be counted on to make plays right away in 2019. Maxx Crosby is an underrated starter candidate.

The Oakland Raiders had three first-round picks in the 2019 NFL Draft. They signed Trent Brown to the richest contract for an offensive lineman in NFL history. They traded for arguably the best wide receiver to play in the NFL over the last decade or more.

It’s understandable, then, that a rookie fourth-round draft pick out of Eastern Michigan went a little under the radar to the general public.

Maxx Crosby, the rookie we’re speaking of, has made a heck of an impression in the early goings of Raiders training camp and is potentially slated to start opposite fellow rookie Clelin Ferrell at defensive end.

Ferrell, of course, was the Raiders’ top pick in 2019. Crosby was not so much an afterthought as he was a possible mid-round steal.

Crosby is a longer, leaner defensive end who is, at the very least, going to be able to come off that left end spot in tandem with Arden Key for the Raiders and defensive coordinator Paul Guenther right away.

Crosby finished his college career at Eastern Michigan with 20 sacks, 41 tackles for loss, and a whopping eight forced fumbles over the past two seasons (four in each).

This guy is a finisher off the edge and for a fourth-round pick coming out of a directional MAC school, he’s got some serious moves.

Crosby does, however, need to get bigger physically. This was even something Raiders GM Mike Mayock emphasized to him on their call to the kid during the 2019 NFL Draft.

By the way — no team has better draft calls than the Raiders’ 2019 draft calls. These are worth filing through and listening to from the top of the draft.

Although Crosby does need to get bigger and stronger, he is a ridiculous athlete for a defensive lineman. Look at how he compares to other players at his position group athletically.

If you don’t understand that spider graph, what it’s showing is that Maxx Crosby — again, a fourth-round pick out of Eastern Michigan — tested in the 90th percentile or better in every category athletically for defensive lineman in the NFL today.

His size — other than height and wingspan — is well below average (50th percentile). That’s okay at this point.

The Raiders don’t need him to be an every-down edge setter from day one. What they need him to do, like Jon Gruden told him in that video, is get after Patrick Mahomes and Philip Rivers.

Crosby has the pass rush moves and athleticism to be able to do that right away. The Raiders have high hopes for that, anyway. Jon Gruden said in a recent interview with NFL Network that he would be disappointed if both Crosby and Ferrell don’t make an impact year one.

The NFL is going to be a completely different bear than the competition he faced at Eastern Michigan, but Mad Maxx Crosby has a chance to be a surprise rookie for everyone but the Raiders this year. He isn’t going to be sneaking up on anyone out in Oakland.