Steelers Sights and Sounds: OL, TEs Prepare for Maxx Crosby

Steelers Chuks Okorafor
Pittsburgh Steelers right tackle Chuks Okorafor at practice, Aug. 28, 2023. -- Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

PITTSBURGH — The Steelers’ offensive tackles and tight ends have it out for one man on the Raiders defense — Maxx Crosby. The standout Raiders pass rusher will go up against, primarily, Chuks Okorafor in his effort to wreck the game in favor of Las Vegas. But Pittsburgh, who has faced several elite players in consecutive weeks along the defensive line, hopes that can all change for them.

Myles Garrett and Nick Bosa gave the team issues by moving around, but Crosby usually sticks on the left side. That should give Pittsburgh a more definitive way to chip against and attack him, but he is still one of the best pass rushers in football, making him a tough player to stop.

Coming off a 15-sack season in which he was finished in the top three in QB pressure and QB hits, according to PFF and he’s off to another stellar start this season. Through the first two games, the former fourth-round selection has already accumulated ten pressures and a sack while being essentially the only real established pass-rushing threat on the Raiders roster. Chandler Jones, his presumed counterpart entering the season, has yet to suit up. Tyree Wilson looks the part getting off the bus, but he’s far from a finished product at this point in time. So, like Bosa and Garrett before him, Crosby is the Steelers’ unquestioned number-one priority.

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