A tattooed madman whose motor never ceases, defensive end Maxx Crosby is a talent of the elite and distinct variety.
Most fortunately for Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce, he believes he has more than one Maxx Crosby on his roster.
Las Vegas' biggest free-agent get, Christian Wilkins, is the defensive tackle version of Mad Maxx, according to their coach.
"It's Maxx Crosby inside," Pierce said on Wednesday when asked what he sees in Wilkins. "Maxx shows up at 6 a.m., Christian's here at 6. Maxx leaves at 5, he's here at 5. You watch them practice, it's a thing of beauty when you have two of your best players work as hard as anyone on the team. But more importantly, he's a perfectionist."
As Pierce begins the newest Silver and Black epoch with his first season as the team's full-time head coach, he's looking to set a standard and clearly believes his dynamic D-line duo will be standard-bearers.
After Pierce took over for Josh McDaniels at the midpoint of the 2023 season, the Raiders' calling card became their defense. Only the eventual Super Bowl-champion Kansas City Chiefs scored more than 23 points against the Raiders during Pierce's nine games as the interim head coach.
Crosby led the way, the three-time Pro Bowler playing through injury and emerging as one of the top 10 players in the league in the eyes of his NFL brethren.
Bolstering the Raiders defense and providing Crosby with another daunting presence to aid him on the defensive line was paramount this offseason. Enter Wilkins, a 2019 first-round pick of the Miami Dolphins coming off a career-high nine-sack season.
The 28-year-old Wilkins landed a massive four-year, $110 million deal because of his talent and production, but Pierce lauds his intangibles.
"He wants to be the best; he's striving to be the best," Pierce said. "No different than a lot of our players on the team, but what I love about him is the teammate. He's a great teammate. He's a good person. You see him bring over a lot of these young defensive tackles, work with them on the side. Not selfish at all; he wants to win."
Pierce very much wants to win, too, and he believes a Crosby-Wilkins combination up front will be pivotal in making that happen.
