Who Holds the Record for the Most Touchdowns in the Raiders Franchise?

The Oakland Raiders, established in 1960, have seen many players come and go throughout the years, but one question remains; who holds the record for the most touchdowns in the Raiders franchise? This article will explain all of that and more!

The All-Time Oakland Raiders Roster

The Oakland Raiders franchise was founded in 1959 and quickly established itself as one of pro football’s most dominant teams. In fact, they won their first championship—and first of a total eight titles—in their second year. The Raiders boast dozens of Hall of Famers, including three players with more than 100 career rushing touchdowns: Marcus Allen (124), Jim Plunkett (105) and Marcus Allen (104). The franchise has honored its star players by inducting them into its prestigious Ring of Honor, located on Oracle Arena's upper deck.

The Leaderboard:

At first, touchdowns weren't a big part of football. It wasn't until 1959 that they began keeping track of them. You may know that Marcus Allen and LaDainian Tomlinson are two top-scoring running backs, but did you know that Joe Horn holds several NFL records? He has 13 receiving touchdowns in one season, an amazing three-year stretch between 2002 and 2004 where he had 53 receiving touchdowns total, and ten years where he had more than 100 receptions. The most mind-blowing statistic about Joe Horn is that his 2003 season with New Orleans isn't even his best. That year he racked up 1,399 yards and 18 touchdowns on 86 receptions—despite only starting nine games!

Running Backs/Fullbacks

Because of their speed, running backs have some of the best records among a team’s scoring leaders. Among those who have scored multiple touchdowns on numerous occasions, you'll see that Marcus Allen and Napoleon Kaufman (who is now inducted into both professional and college football halls) are two of only three players to gain more than 10,000 yards from scrimmage. Roger Craig also gained more than 10,000 scrimmage yards, but his main position was as a fullback rather than as a running back. Tony Dorsett is one of four players with five career games scoring three or more touchdowns.

Offensive Line

The Oakland Raiders are one of two teams, along with their Bay Area neighbors, who have yet to allow their quarterback to be sacked all season. While that is an incredible feat by itself, it’s even more remarkable when you realize their offensive line has also scored a touchdown. Thanks to a combined effort on November 1st against Kansas City, they became just the second team ever to accomplish that feat. You may wonder how such a feat could occur and it was fairly simple; left guard Kelechi Osemele lined up as a tight end and ran into his teammate tackle Donald Penn before reaching into the end zone.

Defensive Backs

How do you measure success for a defensive back? Probably not by touchdowns, but that’s exactly what Charles Woodson did on November 9, 2007. Against Seattle, he intercepted two passes from Matt Hasselbeck and scored each time. He became only the third player in NFL history to return two interceptions for scores in a single game. That season was arguably one of his best as he also led all defensive backs with 13 takeaways (two picks, 11 forced fumbles) and was named AP Defensive Player of The Year at season’s end—the first DB to win since 1989.

Tight Ends/Tackles/Guards

Of all Raiders tight ends, Dave Casper is still considered to be one of their most popular players. He caught 233 passes for 3,070 yards and 41 touchdowns during his career. Casper was a two-time All-Pro and was inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992. After being drafted by Oakland, he helped lead them to winning Super Bowl XV over Philadelphia. He had an NFL record 788 receiving yards during that season and scored 11 touchdowns which tied another record at the time. However, Jim Otto has a better reception ratio than Casper and is currently tied with two other players for most touchdowns by a Raider at 71.

Wide Receivers

Tim Brown, who played 16 seasons with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, holds a lot of franchise records. He’s third on Raider list with 906 receptions and fifth in receiving yards (12,369). His 589 total touchdowns ranks first among all receivers; Jerry Rice is second with 539. But Brown's five-touchdown game isn't a record—it was his career high. And as thrilling as it was to watch Smooth go wild against Houston that day, he's not even close to being Oakland's all-time leader for TD receptions in one game: Cliff Branch tallied 10 scores against Buffalo on Sept. 23, 1976. In fact, 22 NFL players have scored more touchdowns than Brown did in his entire career!

Linebackers and Defensive Lineman

According to Pro-Football-Reference, defensive lineman Greg Townsend recorded 52 sacks with Oakland during his career, making him No. 1 on their all-time list of team sack leaders. On January 8th, 1999, Derrick Thomas of Kansas City beat Townsend’s record by getting his 53rd career sack (that puts a totally different spin on that Chiefs/Raiders rivalry). The best current Raider is Pro Bowl linebacker Khalil Mack, who had 13 sacks last year and has 30 in his first four years. He should be able to add a few more records to that franchise list before it’s over.