Eastern Michigan product Maxx Crosby has announced himself as one of the best defensive ends in the NFL. Any anytime he lines up against one of the best offensive tackles, "I take that sh*t personal," he says.
"There’s a raised sense of awareness when, OK, I'm going against this dude who's a Pro Bowler or an All-Pro and everyone’s hyping it up all week and it's like yeah, this is the heavyweight matchup, these two motherfu**ers," Crosby said last week on the Raw Talk podcast.
And who's the best offensive tackle he's faced in the NFL?
“I would say the two toughest gotta be Trent Williams and Penei Sewell from Detroit," Crosby said. "Those two guys, I’ve played both of them and it was just war every play.”
Sewell and Crosby locked horns in October this season in the Lions' 26-14 win over the Raiders on Monday Night Football. Sewell kept him out of the sack column and allowed two quarterback pressures; Crosby had four pressures in the game, one of his lowest totals of the season.
Sewell wasn't just named first-team All-Pro at right tackle this season, he was named the best offensive lineman in the NFL by Pro Football Focus. Williams was named first-team All-Pro at left tackle for the third season in a row.
Crosby led the NFL in tackles for loss for the second straight season and was named second-team All-Pro at edge rusher alongside Micah Parsons, behind only Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett and 2021 Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt. Crosby said that Sewell and Williams have the same quality that "all the best players have where, ‘I’m the alpha. I’m going to win. I don’t give a fu*k who it is, I’m gonna find a way to win.’"
"And when you’ve got a mixture of athleticism and you’re strong as sh*t and you’re not gonna give up, you put those three things together and you’re going to be a great player. Those two dudes, Trent Williams is massive. Penei Sewell, he’s big as hell, but he’s athletic and strong and he’s tough as hell.
"You step in the league and everyone’s really good, but the mental part of it, being great under duress when you’re tired and feel like sh*t, that’s what separates the guys like myself or Trent Williams. There’s no quit in my body. I will literally go until I physically can’t go anymore."
Crosby, in case you were wondering, has three years left on the four-year, $98 million extension he signed with the Raiders in 2022.