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Picking the right Raiders to win your fantasy league

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With the Fantasy football regular season nearing an end, our Alex Thayer looks at which Oakland Raiders can help you win your league

NFL: Oakland Raiders at Green Bay Packers Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Remaining schedule (Week 9-13): Chargers, Bengals, Jets and Chiefs

Fantasy playoffs (Week 14-16): Titans, Jaguars and Chargers

40 million people participate in fantasy football each year, no thanks to an Oakland Raiders minority owner suffering through a terrible season in 1962. The average person participating pays $556 in league dues. I’m out here trying to help folks win back some of that money. Plus, the bragging rights that come with winning in some leagues is payment enough.

Derek Carr

Remaining SOS: 12/32

Carr is an interesting fantasy player. His best fantasy performance this season was against the Houston Texans, where he put up 23.4 points. That was good enough for the seventh best quarterback in Week 8. Carr’s currently rostered in 34.9% of ESPN leagues, so he’s out there for the taking.

The Bengals and Jets are allowing the sixth and 15th most points to opposing quarterbacks this season, respectively. The Raiders haven’t played the Chargers, who are ranked No. 26 against opposing quarterbacks, yet this season, so as is my habit, I look at the sample size.

Carr vs. Chargers

Year Game 1 Game 2
Year Game 1 Game 2
2014 25.5 (L) 4.9 (L)
2015 23.9 (W) 15.2 (W)
2016 22 (W) 11 (W)
2017 6.8 (L) DNP
2018 13.2 7.9 (L)

What’s fascinating is that ever since his rookie year, Carr always does better the first time he faces the Chargers. That probably means don’t play him in your fantasy championship, but start him in Week 9.

Moving on to Carr versus the Chiefs:

Carr vs. Chiefs

Year Game 1 Game 2
Year Game 1 Game 2
2014 11.2 (W) 10.9 (L)
2015 13.3 (L) 11 (L) (Week 17)
2016 9.8 (L) 5 (L)
2017 30.2 (W) 10.4 (L)
2018 24.2 (L) 14 (L) (Week 17)
2019 11.7 (L)

Fantasy wise, Carr does not play the second game of the season well against the Chiefs either. He seems to be a safe bet against the Chargers and Bengals. The Jets’ defense had a terrible performance against Ryan Fitzpatrick. I’m not recommending Carr past that Jets game.

Tyrell Williams

Remaining SOS: 22/32

Standard Rank: 25

PPR Rank: 40

Williams was the No. 11 wide receiver through four weeks before his foot injury caused him to miss Week 5 and Week 7. What did he do when he came back in Week 8? Finish as the wide receiver No. 10. The only concern about Williams? The lack of receptions and a reliance on touchdowns to be fantasy relevant.

Tyrell Williams Game Breakdowns

Week Targets Receptions Touchdowns Receivng Yards Without Touchdown Catch Adjusted Standard Score Without TD Adjusted PPR Score Without TD
Week Targets Receptions Touchdowns Receivng Yards Without Touchdown Catch Adjusted Standard Score Without TD Adjusted PPR Score Without TD
1 7 6 1 96 9.6 14.6
2 7 5 1 42 4.2 8.2
3 3 3 1 18 1.8 3.8
4 7 3 1 15 1.5 3.5
8 6 3 1 45 4.5 6.5
9 4 3 0 48 4.8 7.8

Williams is getting every team’s top cornerback. and he’s better on your bench for bye week use. But even then, he has competition for looks with Waller and Hunter Renfrow.

Josh Jacobs

Remaining SOS: 1/32

Standard Rank: 8

PPR Rank: 10

Jacobs is in the race for offensive rookie of the year. Play him. Period.

Darren Waller

Remaining SOS: 23/32

Standard Rank: 3

PPR Rank: 3

I don’t really need to talk too much about Waller. I just wanted to plug how former contributor Thomas Wheaton tried to tell drop knowledge to everyone to help them get a sleeper that could win them their league all the way back in August.

Trayvon Mullen

For my IDP diehards out there, Mullen is the only Raiders player that you should be starting in your IDP leagues. And that’s really only if you have nothing else. Over the last two weeks, he’s averaging 8.3 points a game, which is promising considering he’s only started two games.