The Las Vegas Raiders have several new faces on their team as they enter Year 1 under new head coach Klint Kubiak.
One of them is linebacker Nakobe Dean, who signed with the Silver and Black in free agency and brings championship experience from his time with the Philadelphia Eagles. As a result, Dean will be part of a new wave of players looking to help install winning habits.
Nonetheless, while the Raiders are in a rebuild, there are building blocks to turn this team around. Las Vegas is counting on Maxx Crosby and Brock Bowers to play major roles this 2026 NFL season.
While speaking to reporters on Aug. 4, Dean shared his thoughts on Crosby and whether the player is as advertised.
“I mean, everything everybody says is true,” Dean said. “He has a crazy motor. He never gets tired. He’s always going. When you first get around him, you might think, ‘Okay, it’s cool to bring the energy now,’ but then you see he brings the same energy, the same kind of swagger, the same intensity and tenacity to the game every day. You can’t do nothing but respect it.”
Last season with the Raiders, Crosby played 935 total snaps on defense, leading to a 79.7 overall PFF defensive grade. The veteran pass rusher generated 53 total pressures, 10 sacks, 31 hurries, 12 QB hits, and a forced fumble. Meanwhile, against the run, he recorded 46 solo tackles.
Brock Bowers Will Improve Raiders’ Linebacker Room
Meanwhile, as for Bowers, Dean noted that the Raiders tight end has made him a better linebacker dating back to when they were teammates with the Georgia Bulldogs during the 2021 season.
“I give Brock all the praise in the world,” Dean added. “Even from, like I said, his days at Georgia when he came in as a freshman, I know he made me, Quay [Walker] and our whole linebacker group exponentially better. He’s doing the same here. The only thing he has to do is be himself. In practice and in the games, but especially in practice, him being himself is going to make us better as a linebacker core and as a defense.”
Las Vegas Gets Promising Update on Maxx Crosby
Speaking of Crosby, CBS Sports NFL analyst Bryant McFadden recently shared what he saw from the Raiders pass rusher at one of the team’s training camp practices. Furthermore, McFadden notes that Crosby looks ready to make people eat their words for what was said about him after the trade to the Baltimore Ravens fell through due to a failed physical.
“Maxx Crosby is healthy,” McFadden said in a July 29 video from CBS Sports. “He’s energized. He’s fired up. It feels like the whole trade debacle between the Ravens and the Raiders has given Maxx Crosby a newfound sense of motivation to show the entire NFL that he’s still one of those special pass rushers and a terror on the defensive side of the ball.
“Watching him [on July 29], it was kind of confusing to think back to some of the things that were being said about his injury because he’s moving around like he’s in Year 2 of his professional career.”
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