Maxx Crosby is the one of the best defensive players in the NFL, and in week 2 he was the NFL’s defensive player of the week.
Crosby injured his ankle on one of the final plays of the game in Baltimore and it was clear in week 3 that he wasn’t himself. According to a source, Crosby was “not even at 50 percent” against the Panthers and Antonio Pierce made the decision to sit him out in week 4 against the Browns.
With the ankle issue that he has been dealing with, Crosby has the second-highest Pro Football Focus defensive grade on the team through four games, and the top graded player isn’t someone you might expect.
By only a fraction, Pro Football Focus gives former first-round pick Tyree Wilson a marginal edge over Crosby on his overall grade for the season.
Wilson hasn’t been a better player than Crosby this year, but the fact that he’s anywhere near Crosby in terms of his game grades is a positive development.
Wilson hasn’t filled the box scores, but he has been winning in the trenches and making an impact.
Despite not having any sacks, Wilson has the highest pass-rushing grade on the team among players with at least 50 pass rushes on the season.
Wilson’s run defense grade is better than everyone on the Raiders’ defensive line other than Crosby, and his tackling grade is second-best on the roster, behind only Adam Butler.
According to Pro Football Focus, Wilson is winning on 15.6 percent of his pass rushes this season, and that’s the highest rate of any defensive lineman on the team. That’s a slightly better win rate than T.J. Watt (15.5), and only 20 players in the league with at least 50 pass rushes have a better win rate than Wilson to this point in the season.
The box score numbers aren’t there yet, but there’s no question that Wilson is affecting the box scores of players around him.
A great example of this came on a key third down against the Browns on Sunday…
Deshaun Watson missed an easy touchdown throw (below) on a play that involved one of the quickest jumps we’ve ever seen from Wilson.
The result led to a punt and one of the key stops in the game for an injury-depleted Raider defense.
x: @raidersbeat
CBS isn’t showing Raider games in Northern California anymore CBS sucks!
NOBODY is slower off the ball in the entire NFL than Wilson. And all he can do is bull rush low. That’s it. He even has trouble shedding the block. Dude needs get cut. The only worth he has is gassing lineman or inflicting a back or hamstring injury
Defensive dawg of the game? Adam Buler by far!!
100%- one of most underrated defensive players in the NFL by far. He beat that double team and that enabled the sack to end the game! The Raiders better recognize or they will lose him…