Maxx Crosby named AFC Defensive Player of the Week

After an historic four sack performance against the Bengals this past Sunday, rookie defensive end Maxx Crosby was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week by NFL.com.

Crosby absolutely terrorized John Jerry and Bobby Hart off the edge all night, almost single-handedly willing the Raiders to a win. He added five total tackles, three for a loss and a forced fumble to boot.

Crosby only had 2.5 sacks this season prior to this coming out party, but he’s now up to 6.5, tied for No. 22 in the league and No. 3 among all rookies. That’s pretty damn good for a 22-year-old rookie fourth-round pick who was expected to be a project coming out of Eastern Michigan.

The only two rookies ahead of Crosby on the sack list are Nick Bosa and Josh Allen. Both were top 10 picks and neither has had the level responsibility for their team’s defensive success that Crosby has. Both Bosa and Allen play on stacked defensive lines where they are asked to simply do what they do best. Crosby doesn’t have that luxury. He’s doing the opposite, in fact, leading a below average defensive line towards mediocrity.

This will likely be the first of many accolades to come in Crosby’s career. Considering that Crosby wasn’t even listed on FanDuel’s initial Defensive Rookie of the Year odds that included 56 defensive rookies, his inclusion in the discussion shows how meteoric his rise has been.