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

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.

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.

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:

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.

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