Second chance for Allen and Asomugha to make the team
After Charles Woodson took home the first cornerback spot on the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders 2000s All-Quarter Century Team, it’s time to give Nnamdi Asomugha and Eric Allen a second chance to make the squad. Also, Stanford Routt is joining the party and will be looking to play spoiler.
As a reminder, we’re rolling with nickel personnel on the All-2000s team, so we’ll have one more chance for a defensive back to make the team.
Eric Allen
Previously:
Raiders Stats (2000-2001): 7 INTs (3 TDs), 23 PDs, 2 FFs, 1 FRTD, 123 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack (32 games, 2 seasons)
Accolades: Hall of Fame (2025)
While Allen only spent a couple of years with the Raiders in the 2000s, he turned in two impressive campaigns. He led the NFL in pick-sixes with three in 2000, a franchise single-season record, and returned a fumble to the house the following year, collecting four touchdowns as a defensive player. Like Woodson, Allen was also a key factor in Oakland’s playoff teams at the turn of the century, picking up another interception and six more PDs in four postseason games.
Nnamdi Asomugha
Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images
Previously:
Raiders Stats: 11 INTs (1 TD), 61 PDs, 2 FFs, 311 tackles, 18 TFLs, 2 sacks (122 games, 8 seasons)
Accolades: 3x Pro Bowl (2008-2010), 2x 2nd-Team All-Pro (2006, 2009), 2x 1st-Team All-Pro (2008, 2010)
In a way, the football gods were cruel to Asomugha since he was drafted by a team that was coming off a Super Bowl appearance, but the Raiders never finished above .500 during his eight seasons in Oakland. Also, he might be the best player in NFL history to have never played in a playoff game. Individually, the four-time All-Pro had a great run with the Silver and Black, though. He was both a ballhawk and shutdown corner, as he recorded eight interceptions in ‘06 and quarterbacks openly admitted to not even looking his way after that campaign. In fact, Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning famously introduced Asomugha to his father, Archie, as “the best cornerback in the game” during the ‘08/’09 Pro Bowl. Additionally, the Cal product currently ranks second in franchise history for passes defended*.
Stanford Routt
Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images
Raiders Stats: 10 INTs (1 TD), 51 PDs, 1 FF, 244 tackles, 6 TFLs, 2 sacks (110 games, 7 seasons)
Accolades: none
A second-round pick in the 2005 NFL draft, the Houston product was a classic Al Davis height/weight/speed project. He measured in at just under 6-foot-1.5 and 193 pounds while running a 4.27-second 40-yard dash, which was the fastest electric-timed 40 in combine history at the time. He took a couple of years to crack the starting lineup, but currently ranks fourth in franchise history for passes defended*. Routt’s best years in Oakland were his last two—2010 and 2011—where he recorded back-to-back double-digit PDs with 13 and 15, respectively.
*PDs didn’t become an official NFL statistic until 1999.
So, which defensive back are you going with for the second cornerback spot on the Raiders’ 2000s All-Quarter Century Team?
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