RaiderDamus is back for Part 2 of my fantasy preview for the upcoming Raiders vs. Jets game! In Part 2, I will focus on the Raiders as they go against a very tough AFC East team. Will the Raiders be able to succeed in the face of such an indomitable challenge? As usual, RaiderDamus sees all and I will tell you what shall be, after the jump!
There are only a few Raiders players who are owned in a substantial amount of fantasy leagues. As the Raider offense improves, the ownership of their players will go up. Jason Campbell and Denarius Moore will likely be the immediate beneficiaries of increased ownership as their connection grows stronger. Moore is clearly this season's Jacoby Ford, but is a much better receiving prospect while Ford's value comes greatly as a return man. Let's go through the usual suspects first.
Darren McFadden: McFadden is owned in all fantasy leagues and is a solid RB1. He is a good bet to score every week and is especially valuable in point-per-reception (PPR) leagues due to his being a large part of Oakland's passing attack. McFadden is a must-start every single week, no matter the opponent. Bank on 80 rushing yards, 50 receiving yards, and at least one score this week from D-Mac!
Michael Bush: Bush is primarily owned as a handcuff to McFadden; if Darren gets hurt, Bush will take over as the lead back and there aren't any questions about his ability to do so. Bush doesn't always get a lot of yards, but he does score a lot of goal-line TDs. He is great as a Raider fan but as a McFadden owner he drives me nuts, as he is the difference between Darren scoring 8 TDs and scoring 20 TDs in a year. He is the reason McFadden is a top-15 fantasy draft selection rather than a top-four selection. He is the ultimate TD vulture. He is to McFadden what Brandon Jacobs is to Ahmad Bradshaw. Ugh. That being said, against the Jets he is a solid flex play, as the Raiders are likely to have a few short-yardage TD situations.
Jason Campbell: Ahh, just as Jason was really starting to blossom as a franchise QB, he has to go throw against Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie. Good luck, Jason. Last week, Luke McCown of the Jaguars had a 1.8 passer rating against the Jets. That is not a typo and I am not making that up. One point eight. I was shocked when I read that because I was under the impression that a QB couldn't go below thirty or something. Well, if any QB can suck that much, it's clearly Luke McCown. He was so bad that he was benched for a rookie.
Jason Campbell may have slightly more success. Luke McCown is pretty terrible, and Jason Campbell is pretty solid. Tony Romo had a pretty good game against the Jets in Week 1 until he had a complete brain fart and threw to Revis' side of the field. That was a tremendously bad idea. In any case, quarterbacks can have success against the Jets. Expect a TD and at least one pick from Campbell. He isn't really a fantasy starter and if he's on your team this isn't the week to start using him as one. He will be way better in real life than he will for fantasy purposes- kind of like he has been his whole career.
Denarius Moore: Dude is fast. Real fast, and as far as I know, he is healthy. The Raiders' WR corps is more like a WR corpse at the moment, and Moore will be the big winner this week. He will torch the Jets for big plays and score a touchdown. If you have an injured WR on your roster, give Moore a shot in their place.
Kevin Boss: Boss may be the other big winner this week. He is healthy and ready to go (allegedly) so he will be a big part of the Raider offense. The secondary will have their hands full with whatever Raider wideouts are healthy enough to play, so the Bossman will be free to roam the flats and the seam for big chunks of yardage. If you don't like your main tight end's matchup or if your tight end is Antonio Gates, give Boss a look.
Raiders DEF: The Raiders would be a much better play if they would catch the gift interceptions. The fantasy defense scored a grand total of zero points last week against the Bills, which is unfortunate because in the first half they were doing a great job. A lack of sacks will do that to the Raiders, as well as butterfingers. For this week, the Raider defense isn't a good play against an offense that is coming into its own, with a number of weapons and a good young quarterback. The thing that makes them a palatable choice is the fact that Nick Mangold is out, and his replacement will have to deal with Richard Seymour up in his grill all day. That is a recipe for disaster. Mark Sanchez has probably wet himself thinking of the prospect. The Raiders may rack up the sacks if the secondary can cover Holmes and Burress for more than five seconds at a time.
So, there's my first fantasy preview! I hope you all enjoyed it. Tomorrow morning I will post my RaiderDamus prediction for the game itself.