Raiders Madden ratings: Maxx Crosby lands in Top 5 among Edge rushers

EA Sports rolled out their second batch of Madden 24 ratings, covering the defensive line this time. This one made a little more sense as Las Vegas Raiders’ edge rusher Maxx Crosby cracked the top five for his position, but the ranking were still somewhat controversial.

Crosby was listed sixth technically, but he received the same 94 overall rating as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ T.J. Watt and Von Miller from the Buffalo Bills, so the order of the players isn’t significant. However, it is interesting that the Raiders’ rusher is tied with two players who were injured and thus, not as productive as he was last season.

Watt tore a pectoral muscle in Week 1 and only played in 10 games a year ago, collecting a career-low 5.5 sacks, and Miller had eight sacks in 11 games before tearing an ACL. Meanwhile, Crosby played in every game and took down the quarterback a career-high 12.5 times while also leading the league with 22 tackles for loss, three more than anyone else.

While Crosby over Watt is a difficult argument to make—them being equal seems pretty fair—it feels like Crosby should at least be ahead of the 34-year-old Miller who is coming off a major injury. While Miller certainly has a better résumé as a future Hall of Famer, at this stage in their careers, I’d argue the former is ahead of the latter.

The rest of the list makes sense, to me at least, as Micah Parsons has taken the league by storm with 26.5 sacks and two second-place finishes for Defensive Player of the Year during his two seasons in the league. Myles Garrett is a four-time All-Pro selection and has a streak going of five consecutive double-digit sack campaigns. Then there’s the reigning DPOY, Nick Bosa, who has 34 sacks in the last two years combined.

All of that being said, it certainly won’t sit well with Raider Nation that Crosby is below Bosa as those two have constantly been compared to each other throughout their careers since they were in the same draft class and play the same position.

However, being considered a top-five player at your position is nothing to scoff at, and Crosby has talked about how he wants to be in the conversation with guys like Bosa, Garrett, Watt and Miller as one of the best pass-rushers in the NFL. Well, this is one example of how he’s gaining respect around the league.

The Madden ratings also gave Chandler Jones some love. Even after a down year, Jones was given a top-10 mark for power moves among edge rushers with an 84 rating in that department.

Below is how the top five edge ratings within the AFC West shook out.

1. Maxx Crosby, Raiders (94)
2. Joey Bosa, Los Angeles Chargers (91)
3. Khalil Mack, Chargers (85)
4. Randy Gregory, Denver Broncos (83)
5. Chandler Jones, Raiders (82)

Unsurprisingly, the defensive tackle ratings weren’t as favorable for the Silver and Black. Bilal Nichols leads the way for the club with a 73 overall rating, Jerry Tillery and John Jenkins are next at 70, while Adam Butler and Byron Young round out the top five for Las Vegas’ position group at 69 and 67, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Chargers and Broncos dominate the top five ratings in the division.

1. Chris Jones, Chiefs (96)
2. Zach Allen, Broncos (79)
3. D.J. Jones, Broncos (78)
4. Sebastian Joseph-Day, Chargers (75)
5. Morgan Fox, Chargers (74)