Tag: Maxx Crosby

Watch: Raiders rookie RB Dylan Laube shows off killer twerking dance moves at practice

Dylan Laube put on another show at Raiders practice. This time with some serious twerking.

It is becoming more and more clear that Dylan Laube fits right in with this Raiders team. While we talk about the personalities of the likes of Maxx Crosby, Christian Wilkins, Jack Jones, Nate Hobbs, and Gardner Minshew, it’s time we put Laube in that conversation as well.

The most recent example was during Friday’s practice when Laube put on some righteous dance moves for his Raiders teammates as captured here by Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.

As Gutierrez notes, Laube earned the nickname “Cheddar Bob” this offseason for his antics which included a bang on and hilarious impression of teammate Maxx Crosby during the team’s beach day at the close of training camp in Costa Mesa.

His personality aside, the Raiders are hoping Laube’s moves on the field can help them both in the run game and the return game. From the time he was drafted, he was seen as a candidate to return kicks in the new kickoff rules as well as be a receiving back out of the backfield.

5 Raiders players to watch vs. Chargers

There are a few Raiders players that the Chargers will need to keep an eye on if they want to start 1-0.

The Chargers and Raiders will start their respective seasons with a divisional tilt in Los Angeles. 

There are a few Raiders players that the Chargers will need to keep an eye on if they want to start 1-0.

Gardner Minshew

Minshew was recently named the Raiders’ Week 1 starter over Aiden O’Connell. The sixth-year veteran has 37 career starts under his belt, and his level of play will be the main difference-maker in this opener. He has the weapons to succeed, and this contest against the Chargers defense will be his first test of the season.

Brock Bowers

Bowers was the consensus top tight end in this year’s draft, and rightfully so. In three collegiate seasons, the No. 13 overall pick had 2,538 receiving yards and 31 total touchdowns.  He’s been nursing a foot injury, which has forced him to be limited in practice throughout the week. Assuming he’s active in Week 1, the Chargers must account for him at all times, particularly in the red zone.

Zamir White

With Josh Jacobs gone, the Raiders’ No. 1 running back job now belongs to White. In his start against the Chargers last season, he tallied 69 rushing yards and a touchdown. Los Angeles’ defense allowed the second-most receiving yards to tailbacks in 2023, which will be something to watch in this Week 1 matchup.

Christian Wilkins

The former Dolphins star landed in Las Vegas back in March. His presence in the middle should only make things easier for edge rusher Maxx Crosby, which should cause concerns for the Chargers in Week 1. In 2022, Wilkins wreaked havoc against the Bolts with six tackles and a sack.

Jack Jones

Jones is the Raiders’ top cornerback and had an interception in the late-season blowout in 2023. Without a true No. 1 wideout for Los Angeles, Jones could be in for a big day.

3 key matchups to watch as Chargers face Raiders in Week 1

Breaking down key matchups to watch for in the Chargers’ opener against the Raiders.

The Chargers’ 2024 regular season kicks off with a home matchup against the Raiders this Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PT.

Here are three matchups to keep an eye on in Week 1:

Chargers OT Joe Alt vs. Raiders EDGE Maxx Crosby

Alt, the No. 5 overall pick, gets his first “Welcome to the NFL” moment facing one of the league’s premiere edge rushers. Crosby racked up a career-high 14.5 sacks in the 2023 season. Meanwhile, Alt only allowed four sacks during his college career (38 games).

Alt had weeks of reps against Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack during training camp, which should have helped him prepare for his test against Crosby this weekend.

“There can’t be a bigger test right out of the gate,” Jim Harbaugh said on Alt facing Crosby. “Joe’s prepared for it. I can’t wait to watch him compete, starting out against a premiere edge player in this game — in the history of the game, really.”

Chargers CB Asante Samuel Jr. vs. Raiders WR Davante Adams

In last year’s meeting, Samuel fared well against Adams, allowing five catches on eight targets for just 35 yards. Against the Raiders in 2023, Samuel had three passes defended and an interception.

Samuel must maintain that high level of play against Adams, who has historically been a terror to the Chargers. In five games against Los Angeles, Adams has totaled 41 catches for 535 yards and four touchdowns.

Chargers RBs Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins vs. Raiders front seven

Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman are going to run the football, and they will rely on their offseason additions, Edwards and Dobbins, for their success. Edwards is coming off an 11-touchdown campaign, and Dobbins is just looking to stay healthy. When he’s on the field, Dobbins is a threat to opposing defenses. Additionally, the Chargers offensive line looks the best it has in years.

The Raiders are equipped to slow down Los Angeles’ ground game, and it starts up front. Along with being a prolific pass rusher, Crosby is a great run defender. Las Vegas bolstered the defensive line with the free agency signing of Christian Wilkins, who should aid in that department. Furthermore, Robert Spillane was one of the best run-defending linebackers last season.

Other matchups to watch

Chargers EDGEs Joey Bosa & Khalil Mack vs. Raiders OTs Kolton Miller & Thayer Munford

Chargers interior offensive line vs. Raiders DT Christian Wilkins

Chargers WRs Joshua Palmer & Ladd McConkey vs. Raiders CBs Jack Jones & Nate Hobbs

Key things to know about Chargers’ Week 1 opponent: Raiders

Here are some important things to know about the Raiders ahead of the Week 1 matchup with the Chargers.

The Chargers will open up the 2024 regular season at SoFi Stadium against the Raiders on Sunday, Sept. 8 at 1:05 p.m. PT.

To get you prepped for the Week 1 bout, here are five key things to know about Los Angeles’ opponent ahead of the matchup.

Got the promotion

After the 2023 season, the Raiders removed the interim tag from Antonio Pierce’s title and promoted him to full-time head coach. Pierce served as Las Vegas’ linebackers coach before taking on the interim role after former head coach Josh McDaniels was fired. He led them to a 5-4 record.

The man under center

The Raiders had a quarterback battle during the summer between Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell, and Minshew prevailed. This offseason, Minshew signed a two-year, $25 million contract, marking the fourth team he’s played on. Over five seasons with the Jaguars, Eagles and Colts, Minshew has started 37 games, posting a 15-22 record. He has faced the Chargers twice in his career and is 0-2 against them.

Big fish landed

Former Chargers general manager and current Raiders GM Tom Telesco’s biggest offseason move was acquiring Christian Wilkins. Wilkins, the top defensive tackle on the market, signed to a four-year, $110 million contract. Wilkins is coming off a season in which he amassed career highs in sacks (nine), quarterback pressures (61), and quarterback hits (23). Along with being a prolific interior pass rusher, he’s just as impactful against the run.

Other offseason additions

Telesco’s other moves in the offseason came mainly on the offensive side of the ball, with running back Alexander Mattison, guard Cody Whitehair and rookie tight end Brock Bowers. Center Andre James re-signed to a two-year deal. They will all be key pieces for Luke Getsy, who will enter his first season as Raiders offensive coordinator. Getsy previously served in the same role for the Bears.

Look out for…

Edge rusher Maxx Crosby. Crosby has asserted himself as one of the top defensive players in the league. He finished last season with a career-high 14.5 sacks. Rookie offensive tackle Joe Alt should get a heavy dose of Crosby this game, so it will be interesting to see how he fares.

Raiders have among NFL’s fewest $10 million per season contracts

Raiders have among NFL’s fewest $10 million per season contracts

If you have been thinking that perhaps the Raiders don’t have a lot of super stars on their roster, you’d be right about that.

The team has been relatively frugal of late. Nothing wrong with that. The best teams are often careful about not throwing big money at a handful of players at the expense of the ability to build the rest of the team.

One team that has not been real careful about that is the Cleveland Browns, who, today became the NFL’s leader in players with contracts that average $10 million per season.

Their 13 $10M+ contracts is more than TWICE that of the Raiders (6).

In fact, only eight teams in the NFL have fewer $10M+ APY contracts than the Raiders.

Not bad to be in the same range as the Chiefs. Although they have Patrick Mahomes and that means they have to sink as much in other star players as much as some teams do.

The Raiders have no such super star quarterback to make sense of their low big money contract numbers.

The six players the Raiders pay at least $10 million per year on average are:

Davante Adams – $28M
Christian Wilkins – $27.5M
Maxx Crosby – $23.5M
Kolton Miller – $18M
Gardner Minshew – $12.5M
Jakobi Meyers – $11M

Currently the Raiders have some $34.5 million in cap space, which is fifth most in the NFL.

Raiders rookie RB Dylan Laube has already earned hilarious nickname from teammates

Dylan Laube has earned a pretty hilarious nickname from his Raiders teammates

Raiders rookie running back Dylan Laube has become a pretty popular player on the Raiders already. The coaches seem to think very highly of him and his potential to contribute right away. And his teammates are seeing his personality is fitting in as well.

Last week, prior to leaving Southern California where they held the first two weeks of training camp, the team took a trip to the beach. Laube put on a pretty entertaining performance as part of the rookie show, but before that he put on an even better performance by doing a spot on impression of teammate Maxx Crosby.

Crosby got a kick out of it, as did the rest of the Raiders team assembled there. Laube has even earned a pretty awesome nickname.

“I love Cheddar Bob. That’s my guy,” Crosby said, speaking of Laube. “That’s what we call him. That’s Cheddar Bob. From 8-mile, that’s him. He’s a stud. He’s been doing a great job and anytime he picks one at me, he gets a little pass for now.”

For those unfamiliar, this is Cheddar Bob from 8-mile. His part of the scene starts about a minute in (Warning: strong language).

Having spoken with Laube, this nickname is pretty good. And you can see why they call him that. Though, it’s probably not altogether one of those nicknames you want to follow you around forever.

WATCH: Raiders rookie Dylan Laube does hilariously perfect Maxx Crosby impression

WATCH: Raiders rookie Dylan Laube does hilariously perfect Maxx Crosby impression

The Raiders ended their training camp in Costa Mesa with a trip to the beach for a walk-thru…and some extracurricular stuff as well. Part of the antics were provided by rookie running back Dylan Laube who showed his comedy chops with a spot on and hilarious Maxx Crosby impression.

Laube is clearly a real character, which means he is fitting right in with this Raiders team of characters. Crosby being one of those characters who was in hysterics watching the rookie imitate his on field energy and pass rush technique.

Safe to say the team bonding was accomplished with this beach excursion. You love to see it.

3 Raiders land in NFL Top 100 with Maxx Crosby making top 10

3 Raiders land in NFL Top 100 with Maxx Crosby making top 10

The NFL 100 is now counted down. And the final tally has the Raiders landing three players in those ranks. The highest ranking of them being Maxx Crosby who comes in at 10 overall.

What makes the NFL 100 special, is it’s put together based on player votes. It’s the NFL players grading those who they take the field with and against every week. So, it means a bit more.

Crosby was in the conversation last season for Defensive Player of the Year as one of the best all-around edge defenders in the league. He came in at number ten in the rankings, with EDGE players Myles Garrett (5) and TJ Watt (8) ahead of him in the voting.

One would be hard-pressed to find a more desirable pass rusher than Crosby, whose refusal to give up on plays and willingness to leave it all out on the field was best exemplified in 2023. Despite a knee injury suffered in Week 2, which required offseason surgery, the Raiders defensive end enjoyed a career-best season, notching 14.5 sacks, 50 QB pressures, 31 QB hits, 23 tackles for loss and 90 tackles to earn him a third consecutive Pro Bowl trip. Crosby, who’s strong and aggressive yet nimble and crafty, has yet to miss a game through five seasons and the former third-round pick has embraced the “Raider Way” in virtually every way possible. What’s more amazing is that he’s largely grown to become a star without much help. With that set to change in 2024, the sky’s the limit for the Raiders’ star pass rusher.

Two other Raiders players made the list. Next up was Davante Adams who came in at 40th.

It’s a testament to Adams that in a season widely considered disappointing, he still finished in the top 10 in in receptions (103), top 15 in yards (1,144) and tied for eighth in touchdown catches (eight). As his former quarterback Aaron Rodgers once humbly stated, “Down years for me are career years for most.” The Raiders’ uneven QB play was Adams’ biggest detriment in 2023, but one of the game’s slickest route runners persevered to make the Top 100 for a seventh consecutive season.

Seven receivers were ranked higher than Adams, including Tyreek Hill who took the top overall spot in the Top 100.

The final player to make the top 100 was new addition, Christian Wilkins who came in at 59 overall.

After four solid years, Wilkins broke out in 2023 as a key piece of the Dolphins’ lethal pass rush, which ranked third with 56 sacks. For his part, Wilkins had nine sacks, double his previous career high and also set new highs with 62 QB pressures, per Next Gen Stats, and 23 QB hits. Peaking at the perfect time to capitalize on free agency after playing on his fifth-year option, Wilkins signed a four-year, $110 million deal with the Raiders to take his talents out west.

There aren’t really any other Raiders players who could lay claim to a NFL 100 spot. Mainly because kickers and punters don’t make this list.

BIlls’ Greg Rousseau named ‘player who could breakout in 2024’

#BIlls’ Greg Rousseau named ‘player who could breakout in 2024’

Buffalo Bills defensive end Greg Rousseau has been solid during his tenure in Buffalo. In four years, he has consistently improved and entrenched himself as an integral part of the Bills defensive line.

Last season, Rousseau led the Bills defensive ends in snap percentage, seeing 54.6 percent of the snaps.

The Bills moved on from Leonard Floyd, who led Buffalo with 10.5 sacks last year. In addition, Von Miller is coming off his worst season as a pro, registering only three tackles and no sacks.

Thus, Rousseau will have greater responsibility as he enters his fourth professional season. The Miami product should have more opportunities to play in a variety of situations for Buffalo’s defense in the fall.

With this in mind, the 33rd Team’ sees Rousseau as a defensive player who could break out in the 2024 season.

The analysis highlights that even though Rousseau’s sack total dropped during the past two campaigns, the end has shown improvements in other aspects of his game:

Rousseau was a much better player in 2023 as he created more pressures (68) and improved significantly as a run defender. During the 2022 season, Rousseau was just an average run defender who teams would run toward when possible. But in 2023, he became an above-average run player, finishing the season with 19 stops. His improvement as a run defender has been a steady one despite it being a weakness coming out of college. Now, he is an every-down player who can thrive in any situation.

In addition, Rousseau was on par with some of the league’s best in different metrics. Rousseau’s pass-win rate was 16.0 percent last year, just behind Pittsburgh’s superstar TJ Watt (16.9 percent). Rousseau was slightly ahead of Danielle Hunter (15.7 percent) and Maxx Crosby (15.5) percent. Mosher posits that if Rousseau can improve this number, a double-digit sack season may be on the horizon.

Rousseau enters the season as Buffalo’s No. 1 defensive end. He has a great deal of experience on the field, taking starting snaps early in his career. The 33rd Team sees things turning out well for Rousseau’s development this year:

Rousseau just turned 24 and already has three seasons under his belt with nearly 2,000 snaps played. But going into Year 4, the expectations are even higher. The Bills need Rousseau to be a star on the edge and be a consistent pass rusher in big games. And given his trajectory, it’s not hard to believe that it will happen given his rapid improvement.

Rousseau has started all 46 games he has played in a Buffalo uniform. Over three seasons, he has recorded 129 total tackles, 42 quarterback hits, 17 sacks, three forced fumbles, and an interception.

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Raiders DE Maxx Crosby receives top 3 Madden 25 rating

Raiders DE Maxx Crosby receives top 3 Madden 25 rating

EA keeps rolling out their Madden 25 rating. Davante showed up among the top wide receivers last week. Today the EDGE players got their due and Maxx Crosby was among the top rated at the position.

Crosby has a 97 rating in Madden 25 which is tied for third best in the game along with Steelers EDGE TJ Watt.

Tied for the top score is Browns EDGE Myles Garrett and Micah Parsons of the Cowboys.