Oakland Raiders Week-2 Fantasy Football Preview

Luis Reyes – Sep 15, 2012

Week one is in the books and it was a rather disappointing performance from the Oakland Raiders.  Fantasy wise we did see a lot of signs that can help us throughout the season and figure exactly what the game plan will be week in and week out.

At the end of the day if you have a fantasy team you really don’t care who about who won, you just care about what your player did that week to help you out.

Since fantasy has nothing to do with real life scores or overall team performance lets go over the players that can help you out on your fantasy team in week two versus the Miami Dolphins.

Recommended Starters:

Darren McFadden (RB): We weren’t wrong when we predicted McFadden will be a big part of the Raiders offense. As a matter of fact he was practically the only player in the Raiders’ offense. He was targeted over and over again all day against the Chargers.

The Raiders didn’t really rely on their running game against the Chargers, but McFadden was still the first choice in most passing plays as per what we saw last week. Even though he didn’t score a touchdown he was still very productive fantasy wise, especially in PPR leagues.

Miami has a very stingy defense so I expect a similar performance from McFadden week two, except I think this time he will run the ball a little more and catch it a little less. Expect more rushing yards this week and less receiving yards.

Week 2 Prediction: 19 carries, 94 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown. 6 receptions, 50 receiving yards

Raiders Team Defense (D/ST): If there was one thing that looked great last Monday it was the Raiders Defense. They completely dominated at the line of scrimmage, they didn’t allow any big running plays, and Rivers was under pressure all day. Even though they were put in bad field position over and over again, they still managed to avoid giving up a touchdown on most drives.

I expect an even better performance this week against an anemic Miami offense. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill struggled against the Texans last week and I don’t expect that to change this week.  As a rookie he is prone to throw picks or have fumbles so that’s fantasy points right there for the defense.

If the Raiders manage to control Reggie Bush and contain the edges, Miami should have a very difficult time against this defense.

Week 2 Prediction: 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 10 points allowed.

Proceed with Caution:

Carson Palmer (QB): Palmer was efficient in some ways on Monday Night against the Chargers. He put up okay fantasy numbers though (about 16 points in average leagues). Not the best but you could do, but not the worst either. 

The Raiders offense seemed extremely conservative so that worries me in a way. Miami has a pretty good defense so I don’t see why Knapp will set Palmer loose on this one.

Matt Schaub put up similar numbers against Miami last week to what Palmer put up against the Chargers. I expect to see Palmer have a very similar stat line to Week-1.

If you’re in a deep league he’s an okay start or if you are looking to replace with an unfavorable match up.

Week 2 Prediction: 20/34, 240 passing yards, 2 passing touchdown

Darrius Heyward-Bey: Heyward-Bey wasn’t targeted much in Week-1. He was always accounted for on defense so Palmer was barely able to find him. When he did get targeted though he made some pretty good catches.

Knapp’s conservative offense concerns me a bit with Heyward-Bey, its almost impossible to predict what he can actually do on a week to week basis out of the offense we saw on Monday. In fantasy it’s very hard to work with doubt or uncertainty so this one is up to the fantasy owner to start or not.

Miami has a good secondary and they will be sticking close to Heyward-Bey. Denarius Moore’s return should help get looser coverage but the way the offense is running it can also just mean more targets for Moore and less for Heyward-Bey. 

On the plus side, Andre Johnson did have a monster game against Miami in week 1, so there is room for points in this match up, the problem is who will get them? Moore or Heyward-Bey?

Week 2 Prediction: 3 receptions, 44 receiving yards

Sleepers:

Denarius Moore (WR): Denarius Moore is probably one of the biggest sleepers in fantasy this week.  He’s got great talent and is Dennis Allen’s number one receiver.

It’s clear Knapp is planning to throw the ball a lot more after what we saw in San Diego, and he’s not afraid to go to the same receiver over and over again if he feels it fits best. The only downside on Moore is the lack of practice and playing time with Palmer, besides that everything else is positive.

He is still being mentioned as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Dolphins, but after being a full go in all practices he should get the start.

In my honest opinion if I were to pick a player to score a receiving touchdown on Sunday, it would be Denarius Moore.

Week 2 Prediction: 5 receptions, 86 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown

Brandon Myers (TE):  Call me crazy but I think Myers can actually be productive this week.  He’s a sleeper in my book because he showed some great stuff in the 4^th quarter on Monday Night’s game against the Chargers.

Myers didn’t have a single drop and even managed to get some yards after the catch. Take into consideration the great game Owen Daniels had against the Dolphins in Week-1 and maybe the idea of Myers being productive is not so crazy.

If you’re in 12 team league with a TE flex than you might be out of many options out there at TE, so Myers might not be such a farfetched idea after all.

Week 2 Prediction: 5 receptions, 55 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown