Coming off nine seasons with Derek Carr serving as the team’s starting quarterback (and almost never missing a game), it might be surprising to learn the Raiders have actually needed a staggering 22 different starting quarterbacks since the 2003 season. In fact, since releasing the durable Carr this past offseason, the Raiders have already seen two different starters duck under center this season alone. As Packers fans prepare to face Jimmy Garoppolo and company tonight, let’s look back (and rank!) all the quarterbacks to start at least one game for the Raiders over the past 20 years.
22. Kyle Boller
In 2010, longtime Ravens quarterback, former first round selection, and 1998 California State Player Of The Year Kyle Boller made his way back to the Golden State late in his unheralded career to be a backup in Oakland. The following season, an injury to Jason Campbell led to what would be the final NFL start for Boller, who threw three interceptions and managed just 61 passing yards before being pulled.
21. Andrew Walter
It’s kind of amazing how little Walter was able to accomplish over the course of his nine Raiders starts. Over the span—split between eight starts in 2006 and one in 2008—that’s more than half an NFL season, Walter had a just three touchdown passes compared to 16 interceptions. Miraculously, the Raiders actually won two games Walter started.
20. Aidan O’Connell
Raiders rookie and last week’s starter Aidan O’Connell had a respectable outing against the Chargers in his one and only NFL appearance to this point, posting 238 yards through the air, one rushing touchdown, and an interception in a loss. However, the sample size is just too small to warrant a better ranking at this point.
19. EJ Manuel
Following an unceremonious exit in Buffalo a couple seasons after losing the Bills starting job, former first round pick EJ Manuel signed a one-year deal with the then-Oakland Raiders in 2017. When David Carr went down with an injury in Week 4, Manuel got the Week 5 start. He threw for 159 yards and one touchdown in a Raiders loss, which also turned out to be the final start of Manuel’s NFL career.
18. Matt Flynn
Packers fans know and love Matt Flynn, but things weren’t especially great for him between his pair of Packers stints. After inking a big deal with the Seahawks and losing the assumed starting role to Russell Wilson, Flynn was traded to Oakland for a pair of late-round picks. He played two games with the Raiders in 2013 (starting/losing one of them), throwing a total of 246 yards with a touchdown and an interception in the process. He was back with the Packers the next season and all was right in the world.
17. Charlie Frye
After three years in Cleveland and a season in Seattle, Charlie Frye finished his pro career with a trio of starts with the Raiders. During those starts, Frye had 581 yards and a touchdown through the air (plus four interceptions). The Raiders had a 1-2 record during his starts.
16. Marques Tuiasosopo
In 2001, the Raiders drafted Marques Tuiasosopo in the second round, presumably to be the heir apparent to Rich Gannon. To their credit, they stuck with him on and off through the 2008 season, but he never made too much of an impression. At least not a good impression. Tuiasosopo saw action in 13 games, including two starts (both losses). During that Raiders run, he managed 554 passing yards, two touchdowns, and seven picks.
15. Jarrett Stidham
Current Broncos backup Jarrett Stindham spent last season with the Las Vegas Raiders. He played portions of five games, including two starts (both losses). Along the way, he passed for 656 yards and four touchdowns, compared to three interceptions. That’s not astounding, but we’ve seen far worse from Raiders QBs.
14. Rick Mirer
Once Seattle gave up on their former No. 2 overall pick after the 1996 season, Rick Mirer bounced around the league as a backup. His final team (at least the final team he played a regular season down for) was the Oakland Raiders, who needed him to start eight games in the 2003 season. Mirer threw for an Andrew Walter-like total of 1,267 yards, with a mere three touchdowns and five interceptions while leading Oakland to a 2-6 mark in the games he started.
13. Daunte Culpepper
You might remember Daunte Culpepper from similar articles we’ve written about Vikings, Lions, and Dolphins quarterbacks. Well, he also spent the 2007 season with the Raiders and started six games. Since his stat line is similar to Mirer’s but oh-so-slightly better, it’s only natural his ranking is oh-so-slightly better as well.
12. Josh McCown
Josh McCown is the definition of a journeyman NFL quarterback. The well-traveled (primarily) backup QB played for nine different teams during his low key accomplished career. However, one of his lower points of his playing days came during his one and only season with the Raiders. During that abbreviated 2007 campaign, McCown (in a rare stint as the team’s chosen QB1 at season’s beginning) posted a 2-7 record, throwing for 1,151 yards with 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He’d become the Panthers backup the next season.
11. Aaron Brooks
Following six solid and durable seasons under center for the Saints, Aaron Brooks called it a career as the starting quarterback of a 2006 Raiders team that would go 2-14. None of those wins occurred during Brooks’ eight starts, which makes sense when seeing that he managed just 1,105 passing yards, along with three touchdowns and eight interceptions during the span. Brooks had a legitimately good NFL career, but Raiders fans didn’t witness any of it.
10. Jimmy Garoppolo
While he was part of some annoyingly great Niners teams, Jimmy Garoppolo’s ongoing career with the Raiders is far too young to give him a very high spot right now. That being said, we’re putting him at No. 10 right now because he hasn’t been particularly bad nor particularly good, but we’re sure he’ll ascend the list to wind up somewhere between the 12 and 5 ranking by his time in Vegas is over. Number 10 seems right for now.
9. JaMarcus Russell
Largely considered to be one of the biggest NFL Draft busts of all time, JaMarcus Russell spent the entirety of his three-year career with the Raiders. In 31 games (essentially two seasons worth of games), he passed for 4,803 yards with 18 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. He was released before the 2010 season and never played again.
8. Bruce Gradkowski
Despite his 3-5 record as a Raiders starter, Bruce Gradkowski put up okay stats during his time (a.k.a. parts of 13 games) with the team. Those stats: 2,066 passing yards and 11 touchdowns spread between the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
7. Terrelle Pryor
These days, Terrelle Pryor is better known to many NFL fans as a wideout who once had a 1,000-yard season as a Cleveland Browns receiver. Real ones know his pro career actually began with him serving as a quarterback for the Raiders. He was mostly a backup, but went 3-7 as a starting QB. Over the course of his three pre-receiver Raiders seasons in which he played a total of 15 games, Pryor had 1,953 yards through the air, as well as nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Not amazing, but the 627 rushing yards and three TDs he managed on the ground nudges him up a few spots on the list.
6. Matt McGloin
The “Red Rifle” spent the entirety of his four-year NFL career in silver and black. During that 2013-to-2016 span, McGloin started a total of seven games and posted a not-so-great 1-6 record. During his entire Raiders run, McGloin had 11 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and 1,868 passing yards.
5. Jason Campbell
When the JaMarcus Russell experiment was over, the Raiders traded for former Washington quarterback and fellow first round pick Jason Campbell. In his two seasons in Oakland, Campbell played in 19 games (18 starts). The Raiders went 11-7 in games Campbell started, and the quarterback had 3,557 passing yards, 19 touchdowns (plus three rushing) and 11 interceptions. Not too shabby!
4. Carson Palmer
Carson Palmer is regarded as one of the best quarterbacks in Bengals history. Hell, he could probably be considered among the best quarterbacks in Cardinals history, too. Unfortunately, there’s a two-year span where Palmer was on the Raiders and wasn’t quite himself. Though his two partial seasons in Oakland didn’t feature much in the way of winning, Palmer still posted decent numbers—6,771 yards and 35 touchdowns—during his 25 games (24 starts) in silver and black. His 30 interceptions and 8-16 record with the Raiders is decidedly less decent.
3. Kerry Collins
Did you know Kerry Collins has more career passing yards than Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas, Steve Young, Troy Aikman, Phil Simms, and all but 20 other humans in the universe? We didn’t until today, but it tracks. He played forever and frequently found his way onto the field for each of the six teams that employed him. Collins started 28 games for the Raiders between 2004 and 2005. Though his 7-21 record as Oakland’s starting QB sucks, Collins threw for more than 7,200 yards and tossed 41 touchdowns (compared to 32 interceptions) during those two seasons.
2. Rich Gannon
Longtime Vikings and Chiefs quarterback saved his best for last. The veteran’s final stop in his lengthy career was in Oakland, where he experienced an unexpected resurgence in the form of 17,585 passing yards, 114 touchdown passes (to just 50 interceptions), and a 45-29 record in 74 regular season starts with the Raiders. He also led Oakland to an AFC Championship in 2002, the same year he won NFL’s MVP honors. Raiders fans might put Gannon as their top pick, but he’s number two on our list.
1. Derek Carr
Controversial as it might be to some, we consider Derek Carr to be the best Raiders quarterback of the last 20 years. During his nine years with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders, he threw for more than 35,000 yards and 217 touchdowns (to 99 interceptions), and had six rushing touchdowns. Things have been tough for the Raiders lately, but Carr helped lead the team to a pair of postseason appearances.