It’s been a season of discovery for the Raiders. Especially when it comes to the defense, which was to be made up of several rookies and free-agent additions. Most notably, the area that needed an influx of talent was the pass rush which put up just 13.0 sacks last season to finish a distant dead last in the NFL.
Benson Mayowa and Josh Mauro were the two free-agent additions while Clelin Ferrell and Maxx Crosby joined the team through the draft. With second-year man Arden Key, the Raiders were hoping that group would be enough.
The plan was for Ferrell to be the team’s only every-down defensive end with the others rotating in and out, depending on the situation. Mauro is a run-stopping DE while Mayowa, Crosby, and Key would come in on obvious passing downs.
As we pass the quarter pole of the season, the arrangement is somewhat different than originally planned.
It’s Maxx Crosby who has become the leader among them. Sunday in Kansas City, he led all Raiders defensive linemen with 64 snaps (96%), missing just three snaps. The next most was Johnathan Hankins with 43 snaps (64%). Clelin Ferrell saw just 38 snaps (57%). And former starter Josh Mauro was a healthy scratch for the game. Defensive tackles Maurice Hurst and PJ Hall each played around half the defensive snaps.
Crosby has been earning his snaps the past few weeks. He had a Raiders rookie record 4.0 sacks three weeks ago against the Bengals and added another two weeks ago against the Jets to give him the team lead with 7.5 sacks on the season. He isn’t just a sack guy, either. He has put up 7.0 tackles for loss the past three weeks as well, including two against the Chiefs. That’s how you earn the right to never come off the field.
| Offense | Defense | Special Teams | |||||
| Player | Pos | Num | Pct | Num | Pct | Num | Pct |
| Trent Brown | T | 60 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 3 | 13% |
| Gabe Jackson | G | 60 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 3 | 13% |
| Richie Incognito | G | 60 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 3 | 13% |
| Kolton Miller | T | 60 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 3 | 13% |
| Derek Carr | QB | 60 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Rodney Hudson | C | 60 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Darren Waller | TE | 55 | 92% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Tyrell Williams | WR | 54 | 90% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Zay Jones | WR | 42 | 70% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Josh Jacobs | RB | 34 | 57% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Keelan Doss | WR | 33 | 55% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Foster Moreau | TE | 29 | 48% | 0 | 0% | 14 | 61% |
| DeAndre Washington | RB | 15 | 25% | 0 | 0% | 9 | 39% |
| Jalen Richard | RB | 12 | 20% | 0 | 0% | 5 | 22% |
| Alec Ingold | FB | 10 | 17% | 0 | 0% | 9 | 39% |
| Derek Carrier | TE | 9 | 15% | 0 | 0% | 17 | 74% |
| Marcell Ateman | WR | 4 | 7% | 0 | 0% | 3 | 13% |
| Brandon Parker | T | 2 | 3% | 0 | 0% | 3 | 13% |
| Trevor Davis | WR | 1 | 2% | 0 | 0% | 4 | 17% |
| Daryl Worley | CB | 0 | 0% | 67 | 100% | 9 | 39% |
| Tahir Whitehead | LB | 0 | 0% | 67 | 100% | 6 | 26% |
| Erik Harris | SS | 0 | 0% | 66 | 99% | 5 | 22% |
| Trayvon Mullen | CB | 0 | 0% | 66 | 99% | 3 | 13% |
| Maxx Crosby | DE | 0 | 0% | 64 | 96% | 9 | 39% |
| Nicholas Morrow | LB | 0 | 0% | 62 | 93% | 9 | 39% |
| Lamarcus Joyner | FS | 0 | 0% | 58 | 87% | 0 | 0% |
| D.J. Swearinger | SS | 0 | 0% | 48 | 72% | 0 | 0% |
| Johnathan Hankins | DT | 0 | 0% | 43 | 64% | 6 | 26% |
| Clelin Ferrell | DE | 0 | 0% | 38 | 57% | 6 | 26% |
| Maurice Hurst | DT | 0 | 0% | 35 | 52% | 6 | 26% |
| P.J. Hall | DT | 0 | 0% | 33 | 49% | 0 | 0% |
| Dion Jordan | DE | 0 | 0% | 29 | 43% | 8 | 35% |
| Nevin Lawson | CB | 0 | 0% | 20 | 30% | 20 | 87% |
| Benson Mayowa | DE | 0 | 0% | 17 | 25% | 0 | 0% |
| Curtis Riley | FS | 0 | 0% | 10 | 15% | 19 | 83% |
| William Compton | LB | 0 | 0% | 8 | 12% | 15 | 65% |
| Terrell McClain | DT | 0 | 0% | 6 | 9% | 0 | 0% |
| Dallin Leavitt | SS | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 14 | 61% |
| Keisean Nixon | CB | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 13 | 57% |
| Kyle Wilber | LB | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 10 | 43% |
| Daniel Carlson | K | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 6 | 26% |
| Trent Sieg | LS | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 5 | 22% |
| A.J. Cole | P | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 5 | 22% |
| Denzelle Good | G | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 3 | 13% |
[lawrence-newsletter]