Is Maxx Crosby Doing Enough for the Raiders?

Maxx Crosby is the best player on the Raiders defense. He is constantly drawing double teams and still finds himself in the backfield, pressuring the quarterback regularly. But are the Raiders getting enough out of their star pass rusher?

Crosby has 35 quarterback pressures this season, the second most in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus. He is constantly putting the heat on quarterbacks and forcing them to speed up. But that is where Crosby’s impact in 2026 has ended. 

He has just two sacks this season. That puts him on pace for 5.7 sacks this season; Crosby’s career-low is seven sacks back in 2020. He had 10 sacks in 15 games just last season, while he played through a knee injury. 

To compare him to his pass rushing peers, Greg Rousseau leads the NFL with 39 pressures and has racked up six sacks. Will Anderson is just behind Crosby with 33 pressures, but he has 7.5 sacks. Star pass rushers that get into the backfield as much as Crosby are supposed to be posting eye-popping sack numbers. Crosby isn’t.

Beyond pass rushing, Crosby has regressed as a run defender as well. Throughout his career, he has been one of the best run stoppers in the NFL. But this season, he has just six run stops, according to Pro Football Focus. That mark has him tied for 25th best among edge rushers. 

From 2021-2025, Maxx Crosby had 156 run stops, the most in the NFL. He averaged 1.97 run stops per game. That number has been cut nearly in half through six games this season. 

Crosby is not taking the quarterback to the ground, and he isn’t making plays in the run game at the level he used to. 

This defense is built around Crosby being the only true star. The secondary is young and needs as much help from the pass rush as possible. The linebacking group has been inconsistent and benefits when Crosby blows up plays. The rest of the defensive line is lacking in talent. 

Crosby is routinely double teamed, which should open up opportunities for the rest of the line to make plays. However, they don’t. The Raiders had 10 sacks in the first three games when they beat up on three of the worst NFL teams. But during the three-game losing streak, Las Vegas has just five total sacks. 

Crosby himself has just half of a sack since the Week 1 win over the Dolphins. 

Simply put, Crosby is still good and still the best player on the defense. But if the Raiders are going to make the playoffs for just the second time in Crosby’s career, he needs to play like a superstar.