The 5 best kickers in the history of the Raiders

The list of Raiders kickers is as entertaining as it is historic. Kicker stories get weird the farther back you go, and some of the best guys to ever put on the Silver and Black have stories to match. QBs! Professional soccer players! Sebastian Janikowski! It's as entertaining a read as you can get with kickers. So here are the best five kickers in Raiders' history.

The 5 best kickers in the history of the Raiders

5. Jeff Jaeger

For a five-year, 107-game stretch in the late 80's and early 90's, Jaeger was a staple of Raiders' special team units. He made field goals at roughly a 75% rate during that stretch, including hitting over 50% of his attempts from 50+ yards out (13/24). He was the NFL scoring leader in 1993, a First Team All-Pro in 1991, and led the team in scoring for five consecutive seasons. His college career wasn't too shabby, either.

4. Chris Bahr

Bahr played plenty well for the Raiders during his run with the team in the 80s (1980-1988), but he also has the distinction of playing two professional sports: besides being an NFL kicker, Bahr was a first-round draft pick for the Philadelphia Atoms of the North American Soccer League.

And he was pretty good, too: he ended up winning NASL Rookie of the Year in 1975, playing almost two dozen games before moving on to the NFL. With the Raiders, Bahr won two Super Bowls, finished 2nd on the team's all-time scoring list, and was named to the All-Rookie team. Not a bad career for a kicker.

3. George Blanda

And speaking of Raiders kickers who played two positions, Blanda's claim to fame is a tiny bit more impressive. Blanda, who's currently fourth all-time in field goals made for the Raiders, also happened to be, you know, their quarterback.

He won three AFL Championships – along with basically every individual AFL award possible – and holds the record for most seasons played (26) (!!). He's one of the most accomplished and well-known players in the history of American Pro Football, and also just happens to be fourth all-time in made field goals for the Raiders. His Wikipedia page is a wild ride.

2. Daniel Carlson

The fact that the Raiders currently have their second-best kicker ever playing for them is either really cool or really bleak, depending on whether you're a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty kinda person. Since his first full season with the Raiders in 2019 (he split 2018 between them and the Vikings), Carlson's made two All-Pro teams (one First Team, one Second Team), led the league in field goals made (40 in 2021), and led the league in scoring twice.

He's already second all-time in field goals made for the Raiders, and currently has the best field goal percentage for any Raiders kicker who's played in at least 50 games. He's got a *long* way to go until he starts setting team records, but he's gotten as close to Janikowski as anyone.

1. Sebastian Janikowski

No one is more synonymous with Raiders special teams. Janikowski holds basically every Raiders kicking record ever recorded, which is usually what happens when you're the guy for 17 straight seasons.

Three different times he had the longest field goal of the year, including in 2011 when he hit a 63-yarder that was, at the time, tied for the longest field goal in NFL history. He only has one Pro Bowl appearance in his two-decade career, and while the Hall of Fame doesn't seem totally realistic, he'll always be a Raiders icon.