The AFC’s linebackers and one of its premier pass rushers both got some attention this week, with Nick Bolton and Quay Walker landing on league-wide lists and Maxx Crosby opening up about a disrupted offseason.
Bolton, the Chiefs linebacker, was voted the eighth-best off-ball linebacker in the league in a poll of coaches and executives. One AFC executive praised the way he plays, saying, “He’s got instincts, toughness and production,” while also noting, “His long speed in coverage is just average, which caps him a little bit.”
Walker, meanwhile, earned an honorable mention on a top-10 off-ball linebackers list from coaches and executives around the league. An NFC assistant coach said, “The light finally came on for him last year.
I thought he diagnosed the run game better than in the past. He has always been fast, long and can hit,”
Crosby’s offseason has been shaped by recovery after a torn meniscus, a process that kept a trade to Baltimore from going through. Even with that setback, the Raiders edge rusher said he believes the work will benefit him in the end.
“It’s been a different road, for sure, going through knee surgery,” Crosby said, via Sam Warren of The Athletic. “But ultimately, I think it’s been the best offseason so far in general, and I’m extremely excited to get back out there.”
Crosby, already an All-Pro pass rusher, said he’s still focused on the details that can push his game even further. He pointed to the run game, pass game, overall strength, explosion and film work as areas he’s continuing to sharpen, stressing the value of small daily gains.
“There’s a lot of things, whether it’s the run game, pass game, overall strength, explosion, film work, seeing more. It’s just breaking down those little minute details every single day, and if you do that, you can get 1 percent better.
So you take it one day at a time. You don’t want to look too far ahead at things.
You don’t want to be worried about camp right now. We’ve still got a couple of weeks.
You’ve got to be present and focus on the exact details of what you’re trying to accomplish. I’ve done that from the start.”
In Other News...
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Pocic arrives with a real health question attached, though, after tearing his Achilles tendon in December. Even with the usual recovery timeline still hanging over him, the expectation is that he can get onto the field for training camp, pending the final medical steps, which makes this a calculated bet on availability as much as ability. It also fits a broader Ravens offseason pattern, after their push for Maxx Crosby fell short and they turned to Trey Hendrickson instead. [Read more 🡒]
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Cappas recent tape has not helped his case, either, and the questions around his future are only getting louder as training camps draw near. He has yet to land with another team, and the combination of uneven play and a rough recent stretch has put his NFL outlook in real doubt. For a Raiders team that hoped for stability up front, it is another miss that now looks bigger in hindsight. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders QB Plan Is Starting To Reveal One Frustrating Truth
The quarterback picture in Las Vegas is starting to take shape, and it looks a lot more like a bridge than a reset. Head coach Klint Kubiak appears set to bring Fernando Mendoza along slowly, with the rookie learning the offense from the sideline after making the jump from a different college system. For a team trying to stabilize itself, the plan makes sense on paper, but it also signals how much the Raiders are leaning on experience to keep the offense on track early.
The larger issue is what that approach says about the rest of the roster. Las Vegas is still sorting through health and personnel questions, including the status of Maxx Crosby as camp approaches, and the offense has its own moving parts to iron out around young talent and a line that needs to come together. If the Raiders are asking a veteran to steer the ship while a rookie waits his turn, the real challenge may be whether the rest of the team can give that arrangement a fair chance to work. [Read more 🡒]