≡ Menu

In this series, I will be looking at the history of coaches, quarterbacks, rushers, and receivers for all 32 franchises. For coaches and quarterbacks, I will be looking at how much their franchise’s career records (regular season only) would change if we removed the games with that person. For rushers and receivers, I will note how many times that player was the team’s leading rusher/receiver over the course of their time with that franchise (regular plus postseason).

Previous Teams:

AFC East: Dolphins, Bills, Jets, and Patriots
NFC East: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, and Redskins
AFC North: Steelers, Browns, Ravens, and Bengals
NFC North: Packers, Vikings, Bears, and Lions
AFC South: Jaguars, Colts, Texans, and Titans
NFC South: Panthers, Falcons, Saints, and Buccaneers

It’s telling that the greatest Raider of them chose Madden to present him for entrance into the Hall of Fame.

When it comes to the Oakland Raiders, everything begins with Al Davis. The Raiders longtime owner was also the team’s head coach, but one of his best decisions was hiring a young John Madden to coach what was about to become one of the most talented teams of the next decade. Madden was the rare person who was a famous coach who became more famous doing something else: being the best color commentator in pro football. And he is the only coach who then became even more famous for doing a third thing: being the namesake of one the most successful video game franchises of all time. But let’s not bury the lede: Madden was a Hall of Fame coach who won 75.0% of his regular season games.

That’s remarkable, making him one of 7 guys to coach one team for 80+ games and win at least 74% of those games. The others? George Seifert with the 49ers, Tony Dungy with the Colts, Paul Brown with the Browns, Vince Lombardi with the Packers, Don Shula with the Colts, and Bill Belichick with the Patriots. And here’s another trivia note for you: Madden, Brown, Belichick, and George Halas are the only four head coaches to win 100+ games with one team and win at least two-thirds of those games.

The Raiders made the Super Bowl two years before Madden arrived, and won the Super Bowl two years after he left; for some, that’s enough to discount Madden’s influence on the team’s success. And no, he wasn’t the coaching equal of a Brown, Belichick, Lombardi or Halas. But you don’t have a decade of success coaching some of the most bizarre personalities in pro football without being an excellent head coach. He was also the best head coach in Raiders history: without him on the sideline, Oakland has a losing record. Tom Flores won two rings as the team’s head coach and was the Raiders wide receivers coach under Madden in ’76, but his 83-53 regular season record does not compare.

Ovr RkCoachGWLTHC Win %FrGFrWFLFrTFr W%Win% w/o HCDiff
7John Madden1421033270.75900466423110.5240.4824.2%
42Tom Flores136835300.61900466423110.5240.5091.5%
50John Rauch4233810.798900466423110.5240.511.3%
123Al Davis42231630.583900466423110.5240.5210.3%
186Jon Gruden80423800.525900466423110.5240.5240%
198Jack Del Rio48252300.521900466423110.5240.5240%
206Hue Jackson168800.5900466423110.5240.5240%
216Art Shell108565200.519900466423110.5240.525-0.1%
279Mike White32151700.469900466423110.5240.526-0.2%
278Bill Callahan32151700.469900466423110.5240.526-0.2%
306Eddie Erdelatz1661000.375900466423110.5240.527-0.3%
316Mike Shanahan2081200.4900466423110.5240.527-0.3%
351Tony Sparano123900.25900466423110.5240.528-0.4%
361Bill Conkright91800.111900466423110.5240.528-0.4%
379Joe Bugel1641200.25900466423110.5240.529-0.5%
405Lane Kiffin2051500.25900466423110.5240.53-0.6%
428Tom Cable44172700.386900466423110.5240.531-0.7%
441Marty Feldman1721500.118900466423110.5240.532-0.8%
458Norv Turner3292300.281900466423110.5240.533-0.9%
492Dennis Allen3682800.222900466423110.5240.536-1.3%

The best quarterback in Raiders history? There are four men with good claims to that title: Daryle Lamonica, who had the best record and arguably the best stats, Ken Stabler, who arguably had the best peak years and started the most games of any Raiders quarterback, Jim Plunkett, who helped lead the team to two Super Bowls, and Rich Gannon, who was an MVP and hyper accurate passer in Oakland.

Lamonica only started 84 games, but he wins this contest when it comes to Raiders records: without him as starting quarterback, Oakland actually has a losing record. On the other side, Derek Carr comes in pretty badly here. Not only does he have, by a good margin, the most losses in franchise history, games under Carr have dropped the franchise’s winning percentage by over one percent.

Ovr RkQBGWLTQB Win %FrGFrWFLFrTFr W%Win% w/o QBDiff
17Daryle Lamonica84621660.774900466423110.5240.4982.6%
21Ken Stabler96692610.724900466423110.5240.5002.4%
65Jim Plunkett57381900.667900466423110.5240.5141%
80Rich Gannon74452900.608900466423110.5240.5160.8%
95Marc Wilson50311900.620900466423110.5240.5180.6%
107Jeff Hostetler55332200.600900466423110.5240.5190.5%
165Jay Schroeder57322500.561900466423110.5240.5210.3%
206Jason Campbell1811700.611900466423110.5240.5220.2%
215Mike Rae33001.000900466423110.5240.5220.2%
252Larry Lawrence22001.000900466423110.5240.5230.1%
268Donald Hollas64200.667900466423110.5240.5230.1%
325Babe Parilli11001.000900466423110.5240.5230.1%
326George Blanda11001.000900466423110.5240.5230.1%
401Steve Beuerlein158700.533900466423110.5240.5240%
632Hunter Enis10100.000900466423110.5240.524-0.1%
633Don Heinrich10100.000900466423110.5240.524-0.1%
634Kyle Boller10100.000900466423110.5240.524-0.1%
635Matt Flynn10100.000900466423110.5240.524-0.1%
636EJ Manuel10100.000900466423110.5240.524-0.1%
653Dick Wood31200.333900466423110.5240.525-0.1%
654Wade Wilson31200.333900466423110.5240.525-0.1%
655Charlie Frye31200.333900466423110.5240.525-0.1%
669Dan Pastorini52300.400900466423110.5240.525-0.1%
670Rusty Hilger52300.400900466423110.5240.525-0.1%
785Marques Tuiasosopo20200.000900466423110.5240.525-0.1%
806Daunte Culpepper62400.333900466423110.5240.525-0.1%
814Todd Marinovich83500.375900466423110.5240.525-0.1%
815Bruce Gradkowski83500.375900466423110.5240.525-0.1%
916Vince Evans72500.286900466423110.5240.526-0.2%
980Tom Flores64303130.492900466423110.5240.526-0.2%
983Rick Mirer82600.250900466423110.5240.526-0.2%
991Terrelle Pryor103700.300900466423110.5240.526-0.3%
1025Billy Joe Hobert50500.000900466423110.5240.527-0.3%
1032Matt McGloin71600.143900466423110.5240.527-0.3%
1042Andrew Walter92700.222900466423110.5240.527-0.3%
1043Josh McCown92700.222900466423110.5240.527-0.3%
1116Aaron Brooks80800.000900466423110.5240.529-0.5%
1127Carson Palmer2481600.333900466423110.5240.529-0.5%
1140Jeff George2371600.304900466423110.5240.530-0.6%
1164JaMarcus Russell2571800.280900466423110.5240.531-0.7%
1168Cotton Davidson2881910.304900466423110.5240.531-0.7%
1186Kerry Collins2872100.250900466423110.5240.533-0.9%
1206Derek Carr78324600.410900466423110.5240.535-1.1%

Despite the best efforts of Davis, Marcus Allen has a solid grip on the title of best Raiders running back ever. Whether he was running with the night or fighting for carries with Bo Jackson, Allen was a tremendous running back who led the Raiders in rushing yards 98 times in his career. As for Jackson, he led the team in rushing in 74% of his games, a pretty impressive feat given the presence of Allen. There’s no clear choice for second-best Raiders running back of all time, although Clem Daniels can make a strong case, too. From 1962 to 1966, Daniels averaged over 100 yards from scrimmage per game and easily led the AFL in yards. The full results below:

RusherFirst YrLast YrLeading RusherTotal Games%
Marcus Allen198219929815563%
Mark van Eeghen197419816612553%
Clem Daniels19611967628771%
Napoleon Kaufman19952000439247%
Darren McFadden20082014438352%
Marv Hubbard196919754210142%
Justin Fargas20032009409243%
Tyrone Wheatley19992004398546%
Charlie Garner20012003365171%
Harvey Williams19941998357547%
Latavius Murray20142016324670%
Bo Jackson19871990293974%
Charlie Smith196819742610225%
Hewritt Dixon19661970257434%
LaMont Jordan20052007243569%
Michael Bush20082011236138%
Kenny King19801985209621%
Pete Banaszak196619782019210%
Marshawn Lynch20172018192190%
Clarence Davis197119781810118%
Arthur Whittington19781981106017%
Nick Bell19911993103826%
Eric Dickerson19921992101663%

At wide receiver, there’s no question as to who was the best wide receiver in franchise history. Jerry Rice is the best player to don the silver and black, but Tim Brown was Mr. Raider for a reason. Fred Biletnikoff is in the Hall of Fame and Cliff Branch led the Raiders in receiving more often than even Biletnikoff, but neither comes close to matching the sustained success in this category enjoyed by Brown. In fact, only Rice (151 games with San Francisco) and Largent (106 games with Seattle) have ever led a team in receiving yards in more games than Brown (105) did with the Raiders.

Finally, let’s recognize for a moment the only two players on this list to lead Oakland in receiving yards in over half of their games. Art Powell was dominant for a four-year run for the team in the mid-’60s, and then there’s 39-42-year-old Jerry Rice, whose greatness exceeds our words.

ReceiverFirst YrLast YrLeading ReceiverTotal Games%
Tim Brown1988200310525242%
Cliff Branch197219857320536%
Fred Biletnikoff196519786020929%
Art Powell19631966315655%
Todd Christensen197919883114721%
Jerry Rice20012004305951%
Mervyn Fernandez19871992278930%
Warren Wells19671970256340%
Jerry Porter200020072311221%
Zach Miller20072010226235%
Dave Casper197419842210920%
Michael Crabtree20152017204743%
James Jett199320022014614%
Amari Cooper20152018195336%
Ronald Curry20022008187624%
Willie Gault19881993189918%
Mike Siani19721977158318%
Clem Daniels19611967158717%
Dokie Williams19831987137817%
Marcus Allen19821992131558%
Randy Moss20052006122941%
Rod Streater20122015123633%
Denarius Moore20112014125124%
Darrius Heyward-Bey20092012125621%
Ethan Horton19871993118912%
Raymond Chester19701981101109%

That’s it for the Raiders version of this series. Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

{ 0 comments }