With 56 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. 56.
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. 56.
The No. 56 for the Raiders franchise has been worn by a handful of solid players, including a dominating outside linebacker who finished out what should have been a Hall of Fame career in the Silver and Black. Pat Swilling made a name for himself playing for the New Orleans Saints, but after arriving in Oakland in 1995, he had one of the more prolific sack seasons in team history, getting to the quarterback 13 times.
Swilling started the first 32 games of his Raiders career, before retiring for the 1997 season. He returned in 1998, appearing in all 16 games, and finished his Raiders run with 21 sacks in only 32 starts.
Linebacker Justin Phillips currently wears the No. 56 for the Raiders, and will be looking to earn more playing time after appearing in only four games last season. While Phillips is looking to make a name for himself within the organization, the best No. 56 in team history was a sack machine during his four-year run in Oakland.