With the Las Vegas Raiders heading into a brawl with the Los Angeles Chargers, which members of the Silver and Black should you start and sit this week?
Quarterback
Despite playing excellent football in the first three weeks, Derek Carr is only the ninth-ranked quarterback in the league in standard scoring. The problem is that Carr is only averaging two touchdown passes per game and has yet to record a single rushing touchdown this season. With how poor the offensive line has looked, it is unlikely we will see many quarterback sneaks from ‘DC4‘ anytime soon. Between his lack of rushing touchdowns and Gruden’s unwillingness to keep throwing with the lead, Carr remains a low-end QB1.
Running Backs
Josh Jacobs looks to be back this week. He has been a limited participant in practice, so fantasy owners should proceed with caution. Even if he plays, it will likely be in a limited capacity. That, of course, is already limited by the ineffectiveness of the offensive line. Also, he could reaggravate that injury and leave the game early. Jacobs is still a decent flex option, but if you have safer options, it would be wise to use them.
As far as the other Raiders’ backs go, I would not trust any of them this week. Given Peyton Barber’s performance last week, it’s unclear who will get more touches between him and Kenyan Drake. As long as Jacobs is playing, neither of these guys is worth the risk of starting.
Wide Receivers
Figuring out who’s going to have the ‘big game’ out of the trio of Hunter Renfrow, Henry Ruggs III, and Bryan Edwards is like playing a shell game. So far, Edwards is a decent bit behind the other two in terms of fantasy production. However, more than half of Ruggs’ points came in Week 2 against the Steelers, where he caught a long bomb from Carr for a touchdown. Both Ruggs and Edwards look like decent WR3’s this week.
The guy you want is Renfrow and his average of 14 points per game. “Third and Renfrow” has become a lot more than that. He is turning into a very solid WR2 due to his consistent volume of targets. He could even see an increase in work this week if this game turns into a shootout between two quarterbacks playing at a very high level.
Tight End
After a monster game in Week 1, Waller came back down to Earth a bit the past two weeks. Regardless, he is still a top-five fantasy tight end. This matchup should provide him the opportunity to recreate that Monday night magic.
Kicker
Daniel Carlson is the best kicker in all of fantasy football right now. He is a no-brainer right now. Start him over anyone.
Defense
The Raiders defense has become an average unit in fantasy this year. That’s cool. They might be worth a look in certain matchups down the road, but Justin Herbert, ain’t it. Hard pass on the Vegas ‘D‘ this week.
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*Top Photo: Chris Unger/Getty Images