Top 10 Oakland Raiders from 1965 on

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Though you wouldn’t know it from recent years, the Raiders have quite a heritage of great players.  This has been one of the harder lists to pare down, with many players who would have made the top 10 on other teams being left off this list.  Interestingly, John Madden is the coach most associated with the Raiders, but Tom Flores coached the Raiders to two of their Super Bowl wins. Most of the guys on this list played for one or both of those coaches.

10. Khalil Mack:  Mack spent only four seasons with the Raiders before being traded to the Bears before the 2018 season, where he continued to dominate.  In those four seasons with the Raiders, Mack was named to the Pro Bowl three times and the All Pro team twice.  Mack recorded 40.5 sacks with the Raiders, forced nine fumbles and recovered four.   He was the top 10 in tackles for losses all four seasons with the Raiders.  He also intercepted two passes.  He was the NFL defensive player of the year in 2016.  He’s simply one of the best defensive playmakers in the NFL.

9. Fred Biletnikoff:  Biletnikoff was the Mikhail Baryshnikov of the sidelines.  Fred had some of the best hands in the league, and was a precision route runner.  He parlayed his skills into a 14 year career with the Raiders.  During that time he caught 589 passes for 8974 yards, good for 76 TDs.  He was also the MVP in the Raiders first Super Bowl win.  He made it to six Pro Bowls and two All Pro teams.  He was also named to Pro Football Reference’s first team All 70s team.  Fred had quite a resume.

8. Art Shell:  During the 70s the Raiders had the best left side of an offensive line in football.  Art Shell manned the left tackle position for all the 70s and a little bit more.  In all, Shell played 15 seasons with the Raiders, going to eight Pro Bowls and named All Pro twice.  As you might expect, he was named to both the NFL Hall of Fame and Pro Football Reference’s All 70 teams.  He was simply a great tackle for a long time.

7. Gene Upshaw:  Art Shell’s running mate during the 70s was left guard, Gene Upshaw.  Upshaw’s list of awards is similar to that of Shell’s.  It includes seven Pro Bowls and five All Pro teams, as well as being named to Pro Football Reference’s first team All 70s team.  To differentiate between him and Art Shell, the Pro Football Hall of Fame has him on the second team All 70s team.  Upshaw and Shell formed, perhaps the greatest left side of an offensive line in NFL history.

6. Jim Otto:  I confess, I like old AFL players.  Jim Otto was the Raiders center from 1960-74.  During that time he was named to the Pro Bowl 12 times and named All Pro 10 times.  I believe he also might be the NFL career leader in operations, but that’s another story.  Otto played 15 seasons in the NFL and never missed a game due to injury.  He was named to Pro Football Reference’s All 60s team and the AFL Pro Football Hall of Fame’s All 60s team.  Jim Otto, one of my favorite offensive linemen from the old AFL.

5.  Willie Brown:  The Raiders have had a lot of great defensive backs in their history.  Mike Haynes and Jack Tatum are a couple that came to mind that didn’t make this list.  The guy who did make this list was Willie Brown.  Brown played cornerback for 12 years for the Raiders, from 1967-78.  Like so many other guys on this list, he has a long list of accomplishments.  Included are seven Pro Bowls and four All Pro teams.  The Pro Football Hall of Fame named him to both their first team All 60s team as well as their first team All 70s team.  Willie intercepted 39 passes in his tenure with the Raiders, though that number was limited by the lack of passes thrown in his area.  Willie played in 17 playoff games for the Raiders and intercepted seven passes, returning three of them for TDs.  That’s kind of the cherry on the sundae.

4. Marcus Allen:  Marcus Allen is the only running back on this list.  Bo Jackson would have been here, and may have been number one on this list if his career hadn’t been cut short by injury.  He was the greatest athlete I’ve ever seen.  Back to Marcus.  Marcus was a smooth runner who was also a receiving threat coming out of the backfield.  I remembered Allen was good, but looking at his stats, he’s even better than I remembered.  Allen had an amazingly long career for an NFL running back.  Marcus spent 11 of his 16 seasons in the NFL with the Raiders.  He piled up six Pro Bowl appearances, two All Pro selections and a Super MVP award wile with Raiders.  Allen led the NFL in rushing with 1759 yards in 1985.  He also had three seasons with 60+ catches.  Marcus was a talented, versatile performer with great longevity.  He’s an example of a great player who may actually be underrated.

3. Tim Brown:  Tim reminds me of a slightly upgraded version of Cliff Branch.  Cliff was a tremendous deep threat for a long time, but Brown edges him out by virtue of slightly better stats.  Brown played 16 seasons for the raiders, amassing 1070 catches worth 14734 yards and 99 TDs.  He also rushed for a TD, returned punts for three more TDs and added another TD on a kick return for a total 104 TDs as a Raider.  Pretty impressive.  Tim’s Pro Bowl appearance total is nine.  That’s lofty even by Raiders standards.

2.  Howie Long:  The Raiders have had some wild looking defensive linemen in their history.  Guys like Ben Davidson, John Matuszak and Lyle Alzado come to mind.  By contrast, Howie Long looks like a normal, clean cut guy.   Sort of like a giant accountant. He’s also, at least in my opinion, the greatest defensive lineman in Raiders history.  Howie spent 13 seasons with the Raiders.  He picked up 84 sacks and was excellent against the run.  His play resulted in eight Pro Bowl selections and being named to two All Pro teams.  Howie was also named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s first team All 80s team.

1:  Kenny Stabler:  Kenny was probably the greatest QB who played looking like death warmed over.  He seems to personify the Raiders at their peak.  Stabler was a tremendous clutch QB.  He was a master at the two minute drill.  Stabler played 10 seasons with the Raiders and was named to four Pro Bowls.  He was the NFL’s MVP in 1974.  Stabler elevated his stats during the playoffs.  Stabler is another player whose value exceeded his stats.