Quarterbacking the Raiders: A recent history
In 2002, Rich Gannon led the Oakland Raiders to an 11-5 record and an appearance in Super Bowl XXXVII. He was named league MVP that year after throwing for 4,689 yards and 26 touchdowns.
In 2002, Rich Gannon led the Oakland Raiders to an 11-5 record and an appearance in Super Bowl XXXVII. He was named league MVP that year after throwing for 4,689 yards and 26 touchdowns.
It has been all downhill for Oakland quarterbacks since then.
| Pro-Football-Reference | Games | Passing | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | GS | Yds | TD | Int | W | L | |
| 1 | Jason Campbell | 18 | 3557 | 19 | 12 | 84.4 | 11 | 7 |
| 2 | Carson Palmer | 24 | 6771 | 35 | 30 | 83.5 | 8 | 16 |
| 3 | Daunte Culpepper | 6 | 1331 | 5 | 5 | 78.0 | 2 | 4 |
| 4 | Rich Gannon | 10 | 1798 | 9 | 6 | 76.6 | 4 | 6 |
| 5 | Kerry Collins | 28 | 7254 | 41 | 32 | 76.1 | 7 | 21 |
| 6 | Bruce Gradkowski | 8 | 2066 | 11 | 10 | 73.3 | 3 | 5 |
| 7 | Terrelle Pryor | 1 | 155 | 2 | 1 | 70.8 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Josh McCown | 9 | 1151 | 10 | 11 | 69.4 | 2 | 7 |
| 9 | Charlie Frye | 3 | 581 | 1 | 4 | 65.3 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | JaMarcus Russell | 25 | 4083 | 18 | 23 | 65.2 | 7 | 18 |
| 11 | Rick Mirer | 8 | 1267 | 3 | 5 | 64.8 | 2 | 6 |
| 12 | Aaron Brooks | 8 | 1105 | 3 | 8 | 61.7 | 0 | 8 |
| 13 | Andrew Walter | 9 | 1919 | 3 | 16 | 52.6 | 2 | 7 |
| 14 | Marques Tuiasosopo | 2 | 520 | 2 | 7 | 45.7 | 0 | 2 |
| 15 | Kyle Boller | 1 | 186 | 0 | 4 | 31.0 | 0 | 1 |
Matt Flynn is next in line to take over as the Raiders' signal-caller, and if he wins the starting job as he is expected to, he will become the 16th different starting quarterback in Oakland since 2003.
And it hasn't been pretty. The Raiders haven't been above .500 since '02, and only twice have they notched more than five wins. Only Jason Campbell has a winning record as a starter over the past 10 seasons in Oakland, though Campbell was relieved of his duties after suffering a broken collarbone in 2011.
Of course, few can forget the JaMarcus Russell experiment that so famously went horribly awry. The Raiders took Russell with the overall No. 1 pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, but the hefty rookie never quite panned out. Russell was later supplanted as the starter by Bruce Gradkowski, and Oakland let the former LSU star with a big arm go for good in 2009.
Now the cycle begins anew. The Raiders and Carson Palmer -- the team's starter for most of the last two seasons -- couldn't find common ground on a contract, and the aging quarterback is expected to be dealt to the Arizona Cardinals to make room for Flynn.
So add another member to the Raiders quarterbacking fraternity. And, given Flynn's pedigree, it's hard to imagine he won't suffer the same fate as his 15 predecessors.
