Earlier this week, ESPN did a four-round re-draft of the entire NFL. Of the 128 total selections, four Raiders were selected. However, none of them were picked in the first two rounds. As expected, both Derek Carr and Josh Jacobs went off the board in the second round and wide receiver Henry Ruggs was picked in the fourth round.
But one of the most surprising selections was Maxx Crosby being selected in the fourth round of this re-draft. Crosby has quickly established himself as one of the best young defensive ends in football and that makes him an incredibly valuable asset for the Raiders moving forward.
In a recent article by Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report, he named each team’s most important building block for the future. For the Raiders, that was none other than the former Eastern Michigan star. Take a look at a snippet of Davenport’s thoughts on Crosby:
Maxx Crosby paced the team with 10 sacks, adding 47 tackles and four forced fumbles. If the youngsters around Crosby help take some of the pressure off, he may just get his wish.
The most exciting part of Crosby’s future is that he still has so much room to grow as a pass-rusher. As a rookie, he won with just his athleticism and motor. Once he begins to use his hands and string together pass-rushing moves, he could very well become of the league’s most dominant defensive ends.
The combination of Crosby and Clelin Ferrell for the next several years is one Raiders’ fans can get excited about. These two young rushers could be a dynamic duo for years to come in Las Vegas.
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