Graney: Raiders star deserves consideration for defensive award

He’s not among the favorites to be named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year. He’s got just an outside chance.

But that doesn’t mean Maxx Crosby shouldn’t be given a good, long, silver and black look. His play certainly suggests it.

Crosby, in his fifth season with the Raiders, has produced as well as at any point in his career. The edge rusher has done that while battling through injuries that inevitably find those who compete with a reckless abandon.

Just a thought, but having to spend time in the hospital with bacteria in one’s knee and then playing an NFL game against the Chiefs a few days later defines how tough a guy really is.

You can make an argument — a strong one, in fact — that no player is more disruptive across the league. That few if any draw the attention in both the run and pass game as Crosby. He’s still able to make plays. Still has as much impact as anyone.

Then, as defensive coordinator Patrick Graham says, Crosby puts on the cape.

Superman stuff

“He does the Superman stuff in terms of the plays from the backside,” Graham said. “I mean, whether it’s a screen, whether it’s chasing down the quarterback, whether it’s backside on the run. You know each week the focus is on him because he’s a game wrecker, and he knows that and he’s embraced that.”

It will take some doing to win Defensive Player of the Year. Others — Myles Garrett of the Browns, Micah Parsons of the Cowboys and T.J. Watt of the Steelers — have better odds at this point. They all deserve to be in the conversation.

So does Crosby.

The Raiders meet the Broncos at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday, the final game this season for two teams eliminated from playoff contention. A win would put the Raiders at 8-9 to end things. That record might have something to do with Crosby not overcoming those odds. Garrett and Parsons are on playoff teams. Watt could still get in as well.

But if you look past the losing record, Crosby’s numbers will hold up against all other serious candidates. He has a career-best 13½ sacks to go with 88 tackles. He’s the only NFL player that ranks in the top five in pressures and run stops, according to the website Pro Football Focus. He plays the run. He plays the pass. He plays everything.

Crosby’s presence is felt on each play, perhaps because he rarely takes one off.

This is the sort of stuff that won’t win a guy an award, but is so incredibly important to a much bigger picture: Crosby is unquestionably one of the NFL’s best leaders within the walls of a locker room.

The Raiders under Graham and interim head coach Antonio Pierce have drastically improved on defense over the last eight games. It’s a unit led by Crosby. You can’t own such an impact without earning the respect of teammates. Crosby has it. In droves.

He recently was voted winner of the Raiders’ Commitment to Excellence Award for a third straight year and has also made a third consecutive Pro Bowl.

The ultimate Alpha

“He’s special,” cornerback Nate Hobbs said. “The best of the best. It takes a special person — the ultimate Alpha — to get the attention and respect of the other Alphas. We see the work he puts in. It’s not just talk. He’s always trying to raise the standards. We need to bring that too.”

He did so again during a 23-20 loss at Indianapolis last week. Crosby gathered his teammates around him following a Colts’ score while telling Pierce to walk away as he delivered his message.

“Every single year, every single day, I’m trying to improve any way I can, no matter what it is,” Crosby said, “As a player, as a leader. Every little detail matters. I want to be the best person, the best player, the best leader I can possibly be.”

He has proved so again with another terrific season.

Whether it’s good enough for Defensive Player of the Year will be known soon enough.

But he has the votes of a locker room full of those who follow his every move.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.