Ranking the Top 5 Las Vegas Raiders Quarterbacks of All Time

Although the Las Vegas Raiders have only been a thing since 2020, the Raider franchise is rich in tradition, first taking the field as a charter member of the AFL in 1960. Armed with three Super Bowl titles in five appearances, the Raiders have 30 players enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The Raiders boast some of the biggest names in NFL history, including Gene Upshaw, Art Shell, and Marcus Allen, not to mention the legendary John Madden.

They’ve also had their share of top-notch quarterbacks. Here’s a closer look at the top five QBs in Raiders history.

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1 Ken Stabler

Ken Stabler edges Daryle Lamonica for the best Raiders QB in franchise history

Ken Stabler set the standard for Raiders quarterbacks with his elite play in the 1970s. Drafted by Oakland in the second round of the 1968 AFL/NFL Draft, the Alabama alum was quite the athlete. Not only was he a Hall of Fame quarterback, but he was also drafted by three different Major League Baseball teams.

Known as “The Snake,” Stabler’s career with the Raiders got off to a rocky start. He actually quit the team before rejoining them for the 1970 season, when he appeared in just three games.

Stabler became a full-time starter in 1973 and went 8-2-1 in his 11 starts, leading the NFL in completion percentage (62.7%) and earning the first of four trips to the Pro Bowl. He followed that up with a First-Team All-Pro season in 1974 after going 11-2 and leading the league with 26 touchdown passes en route to winning NFL MVP.

Between 1974 and 1977, Stabler went 42-9 as a starter. In 1976, he went 11-1 and led the Raiders to a berth in Super Bowl 11, where Oakland defeated the Minnesota Vikings 32-14. Stabler was third in the MVP voting that season, also earning Second-Team All-Pro honors.

For his Raiders career, Stabler went 69-26-1 as a starter. He is second on the franchise’s all-time passing yards list despite playing in an era where airing it out wasn’t a big part of the game. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.

2 Daryle Lamonica

The ‘Mad Bomber’ won two AFL MVP awards with the Raiders

It’s no secret why Daryle Lamonica was called the “Mad Bomber.” Lamonica played 12 seasons in the AFL/NFL, the last eight with the Raiders. For three straight seasons, Lamonica surpassed the 3,000-yard passing mark, leading the league in two of those seasons.

A Third-Team All-American at Notre Dame, Lamonica began his professional football career with the Buffalo Bills, who took him in the 24th round of the 1963 AFL Draft. He started just four games in those four seasons, but he went 4-0 before the Bills traded him to Oakland ahead of the 1967 season.

In his first year with the Raiders, he went 13-1 in his 14 starts and was named AFL MVP, throwing for 3,228 yards and a league-best 30 touchdowns. Lamonica threw a pair of touchdowns in the AFL title game as the Raiders defeated the Houston Oilers for their first franchise title. The Raiders then faced the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl 2 and lost 33-14.

After going 11-2 and throwing for 3,245 yards in 1968, Lamonica and the Raiders lost to Joe Namath the New York Jets in the AFL title game. In 1969, he was named AFL MVP for a second time, going 12-1-1 and leading the league with 3,302 passing yards and 34 touchdowns.

Lamonica went 62-16-6 as the starting QB for the Raiders in his career.

3 Rich Gannon

Rich Gannon revived his career with an MVP season in Oakland

Rich Gannon certainly paid his dues before lighting it up with the Raiders in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Gannon played with three teams before settling in with the Raiders before the 1999 season as a free agent. He also missed the entire 1994 season with a shoulder injury. In his first season with the Raiders, Gannon made the Pro Bowl after going 8-8 and throwing for 3,840 yards and 24 touchdowns.

The following year, he was named a First-Team All-Pro after guiding the Raiders to a 12-4 record. He tossed 28 touchdown passes and was picked off just 11 times. The mobile Gannon also rushed for 529 yards and four touchdowns and finished fourth in the MVP voting.

After another Pro Bowl season in 2001 (3,828 yards, 27 touchdowns), Gannon was named NFL MVP of the 2002 season, as he put together the best year of his 17-year career by throwing for an NFL-high (and career-best) 4,689 yards. He also tossed 26 touchdowns while leading the Raiders to an 11-5 record.

Gannon then helped Oakland to a berth in Super Bowl 37 but threw five interceptions in a 48-21 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Gannon went 45-29 in his six years with the Raiders.

4 Derek Carr

Derek Carr strung together three straight Pro Bowl seasons early in his career

A second-round pick out of Fresno State in 2014, Derek Carr played his first nine years in the NFL with the Raiders and earned four Pro Bowl appearances along the way.

After a tough rookie season that saw Carr go 3-13 in his 16 starts, he bounced back with three straight Pro Bowl seasons. In 2015, his second year in the league, Carr threw for a career-high 32 touchdown passes and racked up 3,987 passing yards as the Raiders went 7-9.

In 2016, Carr made his way into the MVP race by going 12-3 in his 15 starts. He threw 28 touchdown passes and was picked off just six times. In Week 16, he suffered a devastating fibula fracture that ended his season. The Raiders went into the playoffs with their third-string quarterback and lost to the Houston Texans 27-14. Carr ultimately finished third in the MVP voting.

In 2017, Carr earned his third straight Pro Bowl despite going 6-9 as the team’s starter, as he threw for 3,496 yards and 22 touchdowns.

In the next four years, Carr threw for better than 4,000 yards each season, although the team went 29-36 with him as the starter. He threw for a career-high 4,804 yards in the 2021 season when Oakland went 10-7.

Carr, the all-time franchise leader in passing yards (35,222) and passing touchdowns (217), made his fourth Pro Bowl during his final season with the Raiders in 2022. He tossed 24 touchdowns, but the Raiders finished 6-9 with him under center. He signed with the New Orleans Saints ahead of the 2023 campaign.

5 Jim Plunkett

Jim Plunkett led the Raiders to a pair of Super Bowl wins

Like Gannon, Jim Plunkett’s NFL career took off when he got to the Raiders after playing with multiple teams.

The New England Patriots selected the Stanford quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1971 NFL Draft. After five seasons in New England, where he went 23-28, Plunkett was traded to the San Francisco 49ers, going 11-15 over two seasons. The 49ers released him after the 1978 season.

He joined the Raiders in 1979 and was primarily a backup until starter Dan Pastorini fractured his leg during the 1980 season. Plunkett went 9-2 in 11 starts in relief, guiding the Raiders into the postseason.

He then had a magical playoff run, leading the Raiders to a berth in Super Bowl 15 against the Philadelphia Eagles. Plunkett threw three touchdown passes in Oakland’s 27-10 victory to earn Super Bowl MVP honors.

He went 10-3 as a starter in 1983 and led another magical postseason run for the Raiders, leading the team to a Super Bowl 18 matchup with Washington. Plunkett threw for 172 yards and a touchdown in a convincing 38-9 victory.

Plunkett played eight seasons with the Raiders, finishing with a record of 38-19.

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.

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