With 61 days until the opening game of 2020, we start the count down with the best Raiders player at every jersey number. Today we focus on No. 61.
With the season a few months away, we take a look at the best player to wear the jersey number of the number of days left before the opener on September 13, 2020 against the Carolina Panthers. That game will kick off the new era of Raiders football.
We continue our series with No. 61.
Stefen Wisniewski came to the Raiders as organization royalty, as his uncle was once one of the better guards in the NFL while wearing the Silver and Black. The younger Wisniewski came to the Raiders via Penn State, and started right away as a rookie, appearing in all 16 games of the 2011 season.
In total, Wisniewski started all but three games for the team during his four-year run with the organization, and since then, he has made stops in Jacksonville, Philadelphia, and most recently, Kansas City.
However, it is the man who currently dons the No. 61 that is by far the best to ever wear it in team history.
Rodney Hudson (2015-Present)
A two-time All-American at Florida State, Rodney Hudson was selected in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. After a four-year run with the Chiefs, Hudson signed with the Oakland Raiders as a free agent heading into the 2015 campaign, and the rest is history.
Since putting on the Silver and Black, Hudson has become the best center in the NFL, and it really is not even close. Derek Carr has not been sacked once by a player Hudson was blocking, and he is not only a premier pass blocker, but also has been clearing running lanes with ease for the Raiders running backs.
As a member of the Raiders, Hudson has been named a Pro Bowler three times, and was a second-team All-Pro last season. He is locked up for the long term, and before all is said and done, Hudson just may be a player who has a legitimate shot at one day being enshrined in Canton, Ohio.