Some defensive forms are very dodgy, some are very "deflecty" and some have high damage reduction.

Crocodile falls into the latter camp. It has high damage reduction, some regen and it doesn't do dodge, or deflection all that well.

My guess is there is a relatively small chance of it to deflect, and you have now made it slightly less so with your edge.

NB: Having said that, croc is a really fantastic form to explore with given its amphibious nature (you can explore above and underwater).

Typically only water forms are amphibious with a few exceptions. Despite the lack of deflection, I think you would probably regret deleting further down the road if you did. Especially since you seem to be very exploration oriented to me.