8. Jeff Hostetler, 1993-1996
W-L Record: 34-23
Playoff W-L Record: 1-1
Passing Stats:11,122 yards, 58.5% completion rate, 69 TD’s, 49 INT’s.
Jeff Hostetler, AKA “the Hoss” was Schroeder’s replacement in Los Angeles, coming to the Raiders in free agency in 1993 after the team parted ways with Jay Schroeder and ended the Todd Marinovich experiment. Having had a very successful run as Phil Simms’ backup in New York – which included him stepping in to quarterback the team to a Super Bowl win while Simms was injured – Hostetler was ready to be the clear starter somewhere, and that somewhere was in Los Angeles.
Hostetler would lead the Raiders to the playoffs in his first season with the team in 1993, starting 15 games and leading the team to a 10-5 record. He threw for over 3,200 yards, but only 14 TD’s to 10 picks while completing over 56% of his passes. He led the team to a playoff win in the last NFL playoff game ever played in Los Angeles, throwing 3 TD’s in a 42-24 beatdown of the Broncos. Hoss would go on to have a Pro Bowl year in 1994, leading the team to a 9-7 record by completing almost 58% of his passes and throwing 20 TD passes. The team would miss the playoffs, however, and moved back to Oakland after that season.
Hostetler remained the starting QB of the Oakland Raiders during the 1995 and 1996 seasons, though he missed eight games with injuries over that two-year span. He would still throw for over 4,500 yards and 35 TD’s over those two seasons (including a career-high 23 TD’s in 1996), but would not reach the Pro Bowl again. The team would go 14-10 in games Hostetler started and only 1-7 in games he missed. Hostetler was let go after the 1996 season and finished his career in Washington.