Raiders Lived by the Pass Since Al Davis Arrived

Since Al Davis took over the then Oakland Raiders, now Las Vegas Raiders, they have survived by the forward pass, and it remains part of their DNA to this day.

The Las Vegas-Oakland-Los Angeles Raiders have been known as a passing team ever since future owner Al Davis came to Oakland in 1963 as coach and general manager.

And Davis didn’t just want to throw the ball; he wanted what he called “The Vertical Passing Game.”

The Raiders didn’t have the speed at wide receiver Davis wanted in the early years, so he turned former Heisman Trophy-winning running back Billy Cannon into a tight end and sent him deep down the field for long passes along with speedy running back Clem Daniels.

Before coming to Oakland, Davis was an assistant coach with the San Diego Chargers under Coach Sid Gillman, known in the National Football League as “The Father of the Modern Passing Game.”

Davis expanded on Gillman’s passing game, including the tight end and running backs.

“We don’t just want to throw the ball; we want to throw it well down the field to really put the pressure on the defense,” Davis said in his first year in Oakland. “Once you do that successfully, you open the field for the rest of your offense, including the running game.

“I’ve had to have certain philosophies that had to become part of what I was to do. We weren’t looking for first downs. We didn't want to move the chains. We wanted touchdowns. We wanted the big play, the quick strike.”

Davis had seen what a big-play wide receiver could do when he was with the Chargers, who had future Hall-of-Fame wide receiver Lance Alworth to open things up.

Davis also knew how to stop this when the Raiders were on the other side of the ball.

“The quarterback must go down and he must go down hard,” Davis said if his pass rush.

The Raiders didn’t have the type of wide receiver Davis wanted until Warren Wells came along in 1967, and he caught 156 passes for 3,634 yards and 42 touchdowns in only four seasons before off-the-field problems ended his career prematurely.

However, the Raiders also had wide receivers Fred Biletnikoff, Tim Brown, and Cliff Branch, who made it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Brown, who played from 1998 to 2003, leads the Raiders with 1.070 receptions for 14,734 yards and 99 touchdowns, while Biletnikoff had 589 catches for 8.974 yards and 76 scores from 1965-78, and Branch caught 501 passes for 8.685 yards and 67 touchdowns including a 99-yarder from 1972-85.

Brown, Biletnikoff, and Branch are the Raiders' leading receivers.

Biletnikoff was not known for his speed, but he caught four passes for 79 yards and set up three touchdowns while being selected Most Valuable Player as the Raiders downed the Minnesota Vikings, 32-14, in Super Bowl XI at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, Calif., to cap the 1967 season.

Davis probably would be very pleased with the Raiders’ receiving corps heading into the 2023 season, especially All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams.

Adams has 100 receptions for 1,516 yards and 14 touchdowns in his two seasons with the Raiders and has amassed 769 catches for 9,637 yards and 55 scores in his eight seasons in the National Football League.

During the off-season, the Raiders added speedy wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, who had 235 receptions for 2,758 yards and eight touchdowns in four seasons with the New England Patriots, to go with reliable slot receiver Hunter Renfrow, who has 244 catches for 2,629 yards and 17 scores in four seasons with the Raiders, who also have highly-touted rookie tight end Michael Mayer from Notre Dame.

This is a receiving corps Al Davis would be proud to go battle with.

The Silver and Black open the regular season at the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Sept. 10, at 4:25 p.m. EDT/1:25 p.m. PDT.

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