Las Vegas Raiders: 50 greatest players in franchise history

No, Nnamdi Asomugha did not play for the Raiders during a glorious period for the franchise. However, for a time, he was arguably the best shutdown cornerback in the league. Asomugha initially came to the Raiders with the No. 31 overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft out of nearby Cal. He would play his best eight of 11 NFL seasons with the Silver and Black.

Asomugha originally bounced around in the Raiders secondary his first two years in the league before landing a starting spot at cornerback beginning in 2005. For the next six years, all Asomugha would do is bring elite coverage to the Raiders defensive backfield on the outside. He would finally be recognized as a Pro Bowler beginning in 2008.

Asomugha would make three straight Pro Bowls from 2008 to 2010. He would be named first-team All-Pro in both 2008 and 2010. While he only had 15 interceptions in his 11-year NFL career, Asomugha was for a bit the gold standard at coverage for the cornerback position. Too bad his prime didn’t go with him when he joined the Dream Team that was the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles.

To say that team was a massive disappointment would be an understatement. Asomugha would sadly be a shell of himself in his final three years in the league from 2011 to 2013 split between the Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers. Asomugha will never be a Hall of Famer, but he might be in the running for the best player during the worst era of Raiders football. Basically, he was the Don Mattingly of the 2000s Raiders.