Las Vegas Raiders All-Time Top Five: Quarterbacks

2. Jim Plunkett, 1978-1986

Plunkett was beaten up, physically and emotionally, after seven seasons with the New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers when he came to the Raiders in 1978, so owner Al Davis told him to take his time getting himself together and Plunk didn’t even practice with the team for a while. The move paid off a few years later when Plunkett led the Raiders to victories in Super Bowls XV and Super Bowl XV. It seemed that Plunkett, whose parents were blind, always seemed to have to prove himself. The 6-3, 230-pound Plunkett played quarterback and defensive end at James Lick High in San Jose, making the North-South Shrine Game as a senior at the defensive end. He weight close to 240 at the end of his freshman year at Stanford, so they sent him home and told him to gain some more weight so he could play on the defensive line the next year. Instead, Plunkett went into the equipment room and grabbed a bag of footballs before spending the summer throwing to James Lick receivers virtually every day. When he reported back to Stanford in the Fall, he weighed about 215 and was made the sixth-string quarterback, but was the starter by the opener against San Jose State. On the first play, he dropped back and threw a bomb down the right sideline to Gene Washington, the former starting quarterback who became a star wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, and it resulted in an 80-yard touchdown pass. After leading Stanford to a 27-17 victory over Ohio State in the 1971 Rose Bowl, Plunk was named winner of the Heisman Trophy and drafted first overall by the then-lowly Patriots in 1971. Although he was selected 1971 Rookie of the Year, things didn’t go so well overall in five seasons, or in 1976 and 1977 with the 49ers. However, two years after he joined the Raiders, quarterback Dan Pastorini went down because of a broken leg in a game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The 32-year-old Plunkett came on and threw five interceptions in the game, but he led the Raiders to nine victories in the next 11 games for an 11-5 record and a wild-card berth in the playoffs. Then Plunk guided the Raiders to three straight victories in the playoffs over the Houston Oilers, the Cleveland Browns, and an upset of the San Diego Chargers in the AFC Championship Game. In Super Bowl XV, Plunkett completed 13-of-21 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns en route to being named Most Valuable Player as the Raiders upset the Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10, to become the first wild-card team to win the Super Bowl. He also was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year. Three years later, Plunkett again was the backup quarterback for the Raiders, having been benched in favor of younger Marc Wilson, but he was back in the starting lineup when Wilson sustained a broken left shoulder. Plunkett started the last 13 games of the regular season, with the Raiders winning 10 of them to finish with a 12-4 record and win the AFC West title. In the playoffs, Plunkett led the Raiders to a 38-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers and a 30-14 win over the Seattle Seahawks, before they trounced the favored Washington Redskins, 38-9, in the Super Bowl XVIII as Plunkett completed 16-of-25 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown. Plunkett is the only eligible quarterback with two Super Bowl victories not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His head coach in Super Bowls was Tom Flores, another great Raider quarterback who barely missed making this list. Plunkett passed for 25,882 yards and 164 touchdowns in his career, and rushed for 1,337 yards and 14 touchdowns, although his detractors point out that he also threw 198 interceptions. However, 117 of those picks came with the Patriots and 49ers, and only 81 with the Raiders. In addition, he had an 82-82 record as a starter, but was 38-19 with the Raiders, and had an 8-2 record in the playoffs. “Jim Plunkett had the biggest heart, the most courage of anybody I ever played with,” Raiders tight end Raymond Chester said. “He had a great throwing arm … and he was so tough and he could make plays, big plays. He had the will to win.” Jim Plunkett might be the most underrated player in NFL history.

3. Daryle Lamonica, 1967-74

Lamonica was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the 24th round of the 1963 American Football League Draft (No. 188 overall) by the Buffalo Bills and in the 12th round of the (No. 168 overall) of National Football League Draft by the two-time NFL Green Bay Packers out of Notre Dame. The 6-3, 218-pound Lamonica, who grew up in Clovis in California’s San Joaquin Valley, backed up quarterback Jack Kemp in his first four seasons before Al Davis traded quarterback Tom Flores and wide receiver Art Powell to the Bills for Lamonica and wide receiver Glenn Bass in 1967. Some people thought the Raiders gave up too much to get Lamonica, but as soon as he arrived in Oakland, he became the famed “Mad Bomber.” Recalled Lamonica: “In March (of 1967) I had a talk with Coach (Joe) Collier and he assured me an equal shot at the No. 1 job (with the Bills). So, 10 minutes before the common draft. the Bills traded me to the Raiders.” Lamonica, an avid hunter, was on a hunting trip in California when the trade was announced, and bagged a 35-pound bobcat that day. He promptly named the catch “Raider” and had its head-mounted so that it would be a “constant reminder of one of the greatest days in my life.” In his first season with the Raiders, Lamonica was an instant sensation, completing 220-of-445 passes for 3,228 yards and 30 touchdowns in 1967, leading the Raiders to a 13-1 record that was the best in AFL history. Said quarterback Len Dawson of the Kansas City Chiefs: “The Mad Bomber,” they named him right. He was going after it. He went back and unloaded that ball. He was going for broke on every play.” The Raiders routed the Houston Oilers, 40-7, in the 1967 AFC Championship Game as Lamonica threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, before losing to the Green Bay Packers, 33-14, in Super Bowl II even though Lamonica threw two scoring passes to wide receiver Bill Miller. However, Lamonica and the Raiders were handicapped by the loss of their most explosive player, dual-threat running back Clem Daniels, who was out because of a knee injury. Although the Raiders went an astounding 62-16-6 over eight seasons with Lamonica starting at quarterback, second-best in NFL history, they didn’t return to the NFL’s biggest game until quarterback Kenny Stabler led the Silver and Black to a 32-14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI after the 1976 season. Lamonica had a .900 winning percentage in the AFL, the highest in the league’s 10-year history. “The Mad Bomber” completed 1,138-of-2,248 passes for 16,655 yards and 148 touchdowns in his eight seasons with the Raiders. “Our long passing game on the Raiders came from Al Davis,” said Lamonica, who guided the Raiders into the playoffs every year he was a starter except for 1971, but his 8-4-2 playoff record as a starter wasn’t quite good enough to get them back to the Super Bowl. “Al convinced me that the vertical game would work. He wanted me to throw the ball downfield. It was an exciting time. We were innovative in the AFL. We brought the passing game more into play than the NFL did. AFL fans wanted to see the ball in the air.” Longtime members of Raider Nation remember Lamonica fondly and even in the Raiders’ last season in Oakland two years ago, many fans would wear his familiar No. 3 jersey to games at the Coliseum. And on some, the name on the back was not Lamonica, but “The Mad Bomber.” Lamonica was the AFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1967 and 1969, was a three-time AFL All-Star, a two-time All-Pro after the merger, made the Pro Bowl in 1970 and 1972, and is another AFL star who has been overlooked by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

4. Rich Gannon, 1999-2004

Gannon was a journeyman quarterback when he came to the Raiders in 1999 at the age of 34, having played previously for the Minnesota Vikings, the Washington Redskins, and the Kansas City Chiefs. However, Gannon had plenty left in the tank, as he made the Pro Bowl in each of the next four seasons, was a two-time All-Pro, led the NFL in passing in 2002, when he also was AFC Offensive Player of the Year and NFL Most Valuable Player. Oh, and Gannon also led the Raiders to their fifth, and for now, the last appearance in the Super Bowl. The 6-3, 210-pound Gannon was selected by the New England Patriots in the fourth round (No. 98 overall) of the 1987 NFL Draft, and the Patriots wanted to move him to running back but instead traded him to the Vikings before the start of his rookie season. Gannon backed up Wade Wilson for three seasons before finally becoming the official starter in 1992 when he led the Vikings to an 11-5 record and a berth in the playoffs. Still, he moved on to the Redskins the next season and the Chiefs a year later but started only 23 games in the next five seasons before winding up in Silver and Black as a free agent in 1999. Gannon passed for 3,840 yards and 24 touchdowns in his first season with the Raiders, who went 8-8, but in the next three years, they made the playoffs with a record of 12-4, 10-6, and 11-5. In 2002, he completed 418-of-618 passes for 4,689 yards and 26 touchdowns with only 10 interceptions, while also rushing for 156 yards and three TDs. In addition to being selected MVP, Gannon led the Raiders to Super Bowl XXXVII against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. Unfortunately, All-Pro center Barret Robbins, who had drug and alcohol problems, freaked out when told he might not play in the game because of a knee injury, and went off on a binge in nearby Tijuana, Mexico. In 1999, Robbins and the Raiders' offensive line dominated the Buccaneers, 45-0, but this time without one of the best linemen in football they were pounded, 48-21, as Gannon threw five interceptions. Gannon started only 10 games in his last two seasons, going out with a shoulder injury in Week 7 in 2003, before a serious neck injury in Week 3 the following year virtually ended his career. The Raiders were 2-1 before Gannon was injured in 2004, but lost 10 of their last 13 games. In those six seasons in Oakland, Gannon became the second-leading passer (although he is now No. 3) in Raiders history behind Kenny Stabler, completing 1,533-of-2,448 passes, 62.2 percent, for 17,585 yards and 114 touchdowns, with 50 interceptions. The Raiders had a 45-29 record during the regular season with Gannon as their starting quarterback and were 4-3 with him in the playoffs. After retiring, Gannon served as an analyst on the NFL on CBS for 16 seasons through 2020.

5. Derek Carr, 2014-Present

California’s San Joaquin Valley has been a fertile breeding ground for outstanding Raiders quarterbacks, with Tom Flores and Daryle Lamonica growing up in the Fresno area, while Carr grew up in Bakersfield as a Raiders fan before playing at Fresno State. The Raiders selected the 6-3, 210-pound Carr in the second round (No. 36 overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft after he led the Bulldogs to the 2013 Mountain West Conference Championship, was selected All-MWC Offensive Player of the Year, and to the All-MWC team in his last season, and won the 2013 Sammy Baugh Trophy. Carr, whose older brother, David, also played quarterback in the NFL and is an analyst for the NFL Network, passed for 12,843 yards and 113 touchdowns while leading Fresno State to a 24-15 record in his three years as a starter, including an 11-2 mark as a senior. Carr became the Raiders starter as a rookie and is entering his eighth season at the helm for the Silver and Black. Even though he has broken all of Kenny Stabler’s franchise passing records, Carr has taken criticism for the Raiders’ 47-63 record during his seven seasons, even though he hasn’t had nearly the talent around him that Stabler, Lamonica, Flores and Jim Plunkett had with them for the Silver and Black. Carr did lead the Raiders to the playoffs in 2016, when they were 12-3 before he was knocked out for the last regular season game and the playoffs because of a broken leg. Without Carr, who led the Raiders to seven comeback victories in the fourth quarter that season and has 24 in his career, the Houston Texans beat the Raiders, 24-17, in the first round of the playoffs and the Silver and Black has not been to the post-season since. Carr was selected to the Pro Bowl after each of his first three seasons, although he obviously couldn’t play in 2016, and has been very durable, starting 110 of the Raiders’ 112 regular-season games during his career—missing two because of injuries. The Raiders were 8-8 last season but seemed on their way back to the playoffs when they won three straight games to reach 6-3, but they lost five of their last seven and were on the outside looking in again. Carr had another big season, passing for a career-high 4,103 yards and 27 touchdowns with only nine interceptions, and for his Raiders career, he has completed 2,468-of-3,830 passes for 170 touchdowns and 71 interceptions. When he started breaking Stabler’s records, Carr said he didn’t know how his father would feel, because Snake was his favorite player. For the record, Stabler said he thought Carr had what it took the be a Raiders quarterback before Snake passed away in 2016.