Las Vegas Raiders: 15 best first-round picks all-time

Best first-round draft picks in Raiders history: 8. Sebastian Janikowski

When you take a special teams player in the first round, usually the other 31 NFL teams think that general manager has fallen off the rocker. Twice have the Raiders gone with a special teams player in round one. It’s worked out very well both times, most recently with placekicker Sebastian Janikowski.

Janikowski starred for the Florida State Seminoles in the ACC in college, as a two-time All-American and Lou Groza Award winner in 1998 and 1999. The Raiders would use the No. 17 overall pick in 2000 on Janikowski and have gotten more than their fair share of great kicks from that powerful left foot of his.

While Janikowski has only made one Pro Bowl to date, he as a reputation as one of the better kickers from distance in NFL history. He has made 55 percent of his field goals form 50 yards out, including a then record-tying 63-yarder. Janikowski has made 80.4 percent of his field goal attempts in career.

He is the all-time scoring leader in Raiders franchise history. At 39 years old, Janikowski can probably still kick at a high level for the next few years before retiring. Though he hasn’t played in a ton of playoff games in his career, he’s one of the most popular Raiders of all-time. He’s really a one-of-a-kind sort of guy.