Team Previews - Oakland Raiders

Projected Starting Lineup

QB: Derek Carr RB: Marshawn Lynch WR: Amari Cooper WR: Jordy Nelson WR: Martavis Bryant TE: Jared Cook

LT: Kolton Miller LG: Kelechi Osemele C: Rodney Hudson RG: Gabe Jackson RT: Breno Giacomini

Raiders Offensive Profile Last Three Years 2015-2017 Pass Attempts Rank: 14th, 9th, 15th 2015-2017 Rush Attempts Rank: 29th, 11th, 30th 2015-2017 Play Volume Rank: 24th, 11th, 30th 2015-2017 Yards Per Play Rank: 23rd, 10th, 11th Unaccounted for Air Yards from 2017 (Rank): 1,472 (12th) Unaccounted for Carries from 2017 (Rank): 33 (25th)

Greg Olson's average offensive production as an Offensive Coordinator in the NFL. (4 Seasons)

Passing: ATT COMP PCT YDS AVG YDS/G LONG TD TD% INT INT% SACK YDSL RATE

595 347 58.2 3814 6.5 226 73 25 4.1 18 3 39 247 79

Rushing: ATT YDS AVG LONG 20+ TD YDS/G FUM FUML 1DN

380 1586 4.2 71 10 8 99 9 4 73

Receiving: REC TAR YDS AVG TD LONG 20+ YDS/G FUM FUML YAC 1DN

347 595 3860 11.2 25 73 49 241 3 2 1707 191

Quarterback- After an abysmal season, Derek Carr looks to bounce back with legendary coach Jon Gruden. I would expect Carr's yards per attempt to go north of 7 this season with Gruden/Olson calling plays. Something that he has only done once in his NFL career. He typically does not take many shots down the field and is very conservative with the football. With the addition of Martavis Bryant and a healthy Amari Cooper, one would think they open things up this year. While they will lean heavily on the running game, Carr should bounce back and get close to 4,000 yards something that he has never eclipsed and 24+ touchdowns. Carr does not offer that high of a ceiling and is nothing more than a back-end QB2. Wide Receiver-

Much like his quarterback, Amari Cooper looks to bounce back after an atrocious 2017 season with just 48 catches for 680 yards. The good news is that Jon Gruden typically loves to throw 22%-31% of his target share to his number one receiver throughout his coaching career. I would expect Cooper to lineup in the slot a lot more this season as Gruden will look for ways to find creative matchups for the Raiders best receiver and feed him often. I am looking for a big bounce back year from Cooper and find him to be a great 4th round option this fantasy football season.

With the release of malcontent Michael Crabtree, the Raiders went out and got Jordy Nelson in free agency. There is no question that Nelson is on the tail-end of his career, as he too came off his worst season as a pro. The 33-year old has clearly lost a step and could not find separation last season. It would be wise to move Nelson into the slot where he can take advantage of linebackers, and safeties much like the Cardinals have done with Larry Fitzgerald. The value will be there for Nelson, as he is worth a late round pick (11th+). Well when you release one malcontent, you go out and pickup another! The Raiders signed Martavis Bryant, who has been suspended for substance-abuse-violations, and being a cancer in the Pittsburgh locker room. There were rumors in the spring that he was going to get suspended again for another violation, but that has yet to be announced. With Carr's lack of down field throws and a potential suspension coming, he is currently on my fubar list. The potential replacements for Bryant should he get suspended, fall on Seth Roberts, Ryan Switzer and Johnny Holton. I am intrigued with Switzer out of the slot as he was tremendous at North Carolina with Mitch Trubisky. I will wait to see how things progress in the pre-season though before I go out on a limb for Switzer. Tight End-

Another player that I am intrigued with is Jared Cook. The massive tight end (6'5/254) is coming off of a productive season in which he snagged 54 balls for 688 yards. He is a very good athlete with decent speed averaging (12.8) yards per catch in his 9 year career. The only reason I am thinking his production will not increase too much is the lack of involvement tight ends see in a Greg Olson run offense. In his four years as an offensive coordinator, no tight end has ever caught more than 58 balls. I think he's a matchup nightmare and hope that Gruden gets him heavily involved, but with not a great track record we will pump the brakes till after the pre-season. He should be one of the later round targets you look at to fill your tight end needs in the draft. Running Back- Well I thought this was going to be an easy position preview until the Raiders went out and signed Doug Martin. The lead back should be Marshawn Lynch, who came on in the second half of the season averaging 4.69 yards a carry and 100 total yards a game from week 12 on. He has a lot of tread (32 years old) on his tires and can be a knuckle head, but still runs hard and is a bull to bring down. With an ADP of 70, there is a lot of value in taking Lynch, as he should get all of the goal-line work and outproduce his ADP fairly easily.

I have no idea why Gruden went out and signed Doug Martin. He is coming off of four-out-of-five abysmal years. Martin has been below 3 yards a carry the past two seasons while also failing to rush for over 500 yards. Behind Martin you have DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard who both have been nothing more than fill in type players. If you can get Lynch late in your draft you will be happy with his production, no other Raider running backs are worth selecting. 2018 Vegas Win Total The Raiders’ Win Total opened at 8. This team was one of the most disappointing teams last season, winning just 6 games when many picked them to make a deep playoff run. They will have to face the improving NFC West and AFC North. While I think they made a coaching upgrade in Oakland, the defense will not be improved enough for them to eclipse the 8 win mark.