Las Vegas Raiders: 15 best linebackers of all-time

Best linebackers in Las Vegas Raiders history: 14. Kirk Morrison

Coming in at No. 14 is one of my favorite Raiders ever, Kirk Morrison. Now, you’re probably wondering, why Morrison? There were many other players deserving of more recognition or fandom than Morrison, but for some reason, he really stood out to me when I was first grasping the sport of football. Wow, I’m really aging myself here, aren’t I?

Regardless, Morrison is one of the best linebackers to play recently for the Raiders. Emphasis on recently because quite frankly, we haven’t had a consistently solid linebacker since Morrison left Oakland after the 2009 season. Marquel Lee is giving me hope for the coming years, but since Morrison, there has been a revolving door at the position.

Morrison was drafted out of San Diego State University in the 2005 NFL Draft and was thrown instantly into a starting role for the Silver and Black. During his five seasons in Oakland, Morrison did not miss a single game, and only missed one start (during his rookie season). Talk about consistency, right?

He finished his tenure in Oakland with a whopping 496 tackles in only 80 games, that’s an average of 6.2 tackles per game. Morrison was a stalwart in the middle of the field for the Raiders and had tremendous range.

He was involved on every play, and that isn’t really an exaggeration. His play was as solid as it got, and I bet the Raiders would love to have someone of his caliber back in the heart of their defense today.