Raiders Search for Another Super Bowl QB

Derek Carr officially said goodbye to the Las Vegas Raiders this week, so for the first time in a decade, the Silver and Black will have a new starting quarterback.

Even for Carr fans, that might be a good thing.

That’s because in their five appearances in the Super Bowl, only once were they led there by a quarterback who the Raiders drafted.

That was left-hander Kenny “Snake” Stabler, who the Oakland Raiders drafted in the second round (No. 52 overall) out of Alabama in 1968 and led them to a 32-14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena to cap the 1976 season.

“A brilliant work of art by the master of his position,” Raiders famed radio play-by-play announcer chortled as Stabler engineered the victory over the favored Vikings with near-perfect precision and skill. “Jascha Heifetz has never played the violin with more dexterity than Kenny Stabler is playing the Minnesota Vikings defense in the Rose Bowl stadium today in Pasadena.”

Of the other quarterbacks who led the Raiders to the Super Bowl, probably the most dramatic was Daryle Lamonica, who Managing General Partner Al Davis acquired from the Buffalo Bills in a 1967 trade that included another top quarterback, Tom Flores of the Raiders—who later would coach the Silver and Black to two Super Bowl victories.

All Lamonica did in his first season with the Raiders was lead them to a 13-1 record and a 40-7 victory over the Houston Oilers in the American Football League Championship Game before the Green Bay Packers defeated Oakland, 33-14, in Super Bowl II at the Orange Bowl in Miami in legendary Coach Vince Lombardi’s final game as coach of the Pack.

Lamonica, known as “The Mad Bomber” because of his powerful throwing arm, passed for 3,228 yards and 30 touchdowns with 20 interceptions in his first season with the Raiders, adding two scoring passes against the Oilers and two more against the Packers during the post-season.

In addition to compiling an astounding 62-16-6 record as a starter with the Raiders, Lamonica was a two-time AFL Most Valuable Player, a five-time All-Star, and made the All-Pro team in 1970 and 1972 after the Pro Football merger. He died last year at the age of 80.

“Daryle Lamonica was the perfect quarterback for the Raiders at that time,” said Hall of Fame Coach John Madden, who in 1967 was an Oakland assistant under Coach John Rauch. “He wasn’t intruding on a team that was set, he eased into a team that was being built, a team that went to the Super Bowl that season, a team that was starting a tradition of success.”

Jim Plunkett won the Heisman Trophy at Stanford and was the No. 1 overall pick of the NFL Draft in 1971 by the New England Patriots, who missed him so badly that the 6-3, 225-pounder was asked at times to run the option play.

After five undistinguished seasons with the Patriots and another with the San Francisco 49ers, Al Davis brought Plunkett to Oakland in 1978 and told him to sit back to regain his physical form and confidence simply.

Plunkett didn’t start all year in either 1980 or 1983, but in both seasons, he took over at quarterback and led the Raiders to victories in Super Bowls XV and XVIII with Flores as his head coach.

In 1980, Plunk led the Raiders to playoff victories over the Oilers, the Cleveland Browns, and San Diego Chargers before throwing three touchdown passes and being selected Most Valuable Players as the Silver and Black downed the Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10, in Super Bowl XV at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.

Three years later, after again riding the bench for part of the season, Plunkett led the Raiders to playoff victories over the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Seattle Seahawks before passing for 172 yards and a touchdown while engineering a 38-9 rout of the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

“Jim Plunkett had the biggest heart, the most courage of anybody I ever played with,” Raiders tight end Raymond Chester said of Plunkett, who was 1980 NFL Comeback Player of the Year. “He had a great throwing arm, but he looked bad, even ugly out there sometimes. But he was so tough, and he could make plays, big plays. He had the will to win.”

Rich Gannon could only be described as a journeyman quarterback when he came to the Raiders in 1999 after 12 seasons in the NFL at the age of 34 after mostly riding the bench for the Vikings, Redskins, and Kansas City Chiefs after being drafted by the Vikings in the fourth round (No. 98 overall) of the 1987 NFL Draft out of Delaware.

However, Gannon became the starter under Coach John Gruden in his first year in Oakland, passing for 3,840 yards and 24 touchdowns as the Raiders went 8-8, but it was even better the next season when the Silver and Black went 12-4 and reached the AFC Championship Game before losing to the Baltimore Ravens, 16-3, as Gannon passed for 3,430 yards and 28 touchdowns during the regular season.

Gannon passed for 3,828 yards and 27 touchdowns in his third season as the Raiders went 10-6, and beat the New York Jets, 34-28, in an AFC Wild Card game as he passed for 294 yards and two touchdowns before the Patriots eliminated the Silver and Black, 16-3, in a Divisional Playoff Game.

However, the best was yet to come in the next season.

Gannon passed for 4,689 yards and 26 touchdowns as the Raiders went 11-5 in 2002 before beating the Jets, 30-10, in an AFC Wild Card game as Gannon passed for two touchdowns and bested the Tennessee Titans, 41-24, in the AFC Championship Game, as Gannon threw for three scores.

However, Raiders All-Pro center Barret Robbins, who had mental and physical problems, disappeared a few days before Super Bowl XXXVII. Without their best player, the Raiders were routed, 48-21, by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

Gannon tried his best, passing for 272 yards and two touchdowns, but threw five interceptions and was sacked five times.

But he got the Raiders to the Super Bowl, and perhaps their next quarterback can do the same.

The NFL Scouting Combine is Feb. 28-March 6, 2023, held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind. March 7, 2023, before 4 p.m. EST is the club's deadline to designate Franchise or Transition Players.

March 13-15 is the free agent negotiation period. During the time starting at 12 p.m. EST on March 13 and ending at 3:59:59 p.m. EST on March 15, clubs are permitted to contact and enter into contract negotiations with the certified agents of players who will become Unrestricted Free Agents upon the expiration of their 2022 Player Contracts at 4 p.m. EST on March 15.

The 2023 NFL Year and Free Agency period begins at 4 p.m. EST on March 15. The Raiders are expected to be significant players in the free agent market this season.

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