5. Alonzo “Skip” Thomas
The Raiders have had two great cornerback tandems in their history, and the original feature Hall of Famer Willie Brown, and on the other end, was Alonzo “Skip’ Thomas (aka Dr. Death). There are few players who exemplified being a Raiders more than Thomas, who played the game with incredible passion.
Thomas was a unique character off the field and an intimidating presence on the field with his physical style of play, which optimized much of the 70s Raiders. And as a seventh-round pick, you couldn’t ask for much more from him as a player, as you really cannot ask for more value from that late of a selection.
Though he didn’t have the accolades, Thomas was a perfect complement to Brown, and they, along with Jack Tatum and George Atkinson, helped make the Raiders one the better secondaries of the era. Thomas picked off 17 passes in what was a short six-year career that was spent entirely in the Silver and Black.