Dynasty Capsule: Oakland Raiders
As part of the premium content package, we’re again unveiling dynasty capsules for every team in the NFL leading up to free agency and the NFL Draft. This year, we’re also going to do a follow-up on all the teams after all the free agency and NFL Draft movement to assess the impact of any players teams have gained or lost. Since these capsules are always done as a simple snapshot in time, we figured that was the best way to tackle the off-season and provide ultimate value for our subscribers. All in all, we’ll have close to 500 player profiles found in these capsules over the off-season.
We begin the last of the capsules with the Oakland Raiders.
Quarterbacks
Carson Palmer
Palmer made a lot of news back in 2011 when he basically refused to show up in Cincinnati. He did the unthinkable for a “franchise” quarterback and actually held out into the season. The Bengals had little choice other than to trade him. In hindsight, when you look at the package they received from the Raiders, it was a no brainer to do so.
In his time with the Raiders, Palmer hasn’t been bad. He hasn’t been great, either. He is posting quite a few yards at a clip over right around 270 yards per game played. He is also nearly eight yards per attempt and has a near 61% completion rate. The downside has been he is still struggling to lead his team into the end zone, which has always been a problem for Palmer. He’s topped 30 touchdowns only once and his turnover rate has been at nearly a 1:1 rate with his touchdowns.
Palmer has a big contract through the 2016 season and might actually be cut or traded if Oakland goes through some major house cleaning and decides to start over at the position. If that is the case, look for teams like Arizona or Cleveland to be interested. In Oakland, Palmer is a decent QB2 play, but the upside is capped.
Terrelle Pryor
The main advantages that Pryor has at this point in time are his legs and his price tag. With the read-option being the new phase in the NFL, teams like Oakland might be willing to give it a try. Pryor has a skill set that could be a good fit for the offense, but isn’t as talented as many of the players who ran the offense for other teams this year. When you combine that with the fact he is set to make $12.5 million dollars less than Palmer this season and is signed cheaply through 2014, he might get a shot. I wasn’t very impressed with Pryor in his week 17 start, but if he gets an off-season to train as the starter and they tailor the system to his talents, he could be an intriguing QB2.
Running Backs
Darren McFadden
There are few players in the NFL who give fantasy owners more fits than McFadden. Many of us were very intrigued by the talent, but the repeated injuries had made most of us sour on his prospects. With that said, there is always going to be at least one guy in every league who thinks this might be the year he stays healthy and posts top five numbers for a season at a RB2 price.
Our own member corner writer Dan Meylor did a very nice article on McFadden that echoes a lot of my feelings on the player. The talent is there, but when a player misses at least three games in every season he has had during his five year career, that is a pattern. With that said, he’s going to get the chance to be the guy for Oakland all the way until the yearly injury happens. It will be interesting to see what the Raiders do after the 2013 season since McFadden will be a free agent at that time.
Marcel Reece
Given that a McFadden injury is more of a “when” question than an “if” question at this point, his primary backup is a big concern for fantasy owners. If last year is any indication, that player is Marcel Reece. At 6’3” and 240 pounds, Reece is more of an H-back than a full-fledged fullback. He has great hands, catching 52 passes for almost 500 yards last season, which boosts his value quite a bit in PPR leagues. On the ground, Reece was a little less effective than you would expect. He only had 59 carries on the season, but averaged a respectable 4.6 yards per carry.
Reece will be 28 when the season starts, which means the long term outlook isn’t great, but he is the player to own for this year when it comes to the yearly McFadden injury. He should produce solid RB2 numbers in PPR leagues for the three games or more that McFadden misses.
Jeremy Stewart
Stewart popped up on dynasty radars in the middle of the season when McFadden was out and the Raiders were trying to find someone to pair with Reece. My word of advice would be to not get too excited about him. He appeared in only four games and was a healthy scratch for the last four games of the season. In the four games he played, he never had double digit carries or more than 50 yards on the ground. He shouldn’t be on rosters at this point.
Wide Receivers
Denarius Moore
Moore excited a lot of people as a rookie, and many were expecting him to take the next step during his second season – that didn’t exactly happen. Moore came out of the gate strong, averaging 70 yards a game and a touchdown a little better than every other game for the first half of the season. This was cut in half for the second half of the season as he ended the season with 51 catches, 741 yards and 7 touchdowns. While that isn’t terrible, it isn’t the jump up many were expecting.
Moore is signed through the 2014 season on his rookie deal. He’ll continue to get the chance to be the top receiver on the team, but being the top receiver for the Raiders doesn’t mean a whole lot. At this point, he’s nothing more than a WR3 with some nice upside.
Darrius Heyward-Bey
The 2009 combine warrior, DHB hasn’t quite lived up to the billing of being the first wide receiver taken in the draft that year. While he did manage a team leading 64 catches for 975 yards in 2011, he fell off of that pace in 2012. He is starting to look more and more like a receiver instead of just an athlete, but he is entering the last season of his rookie deal and is due a massive $7.7 million for the 2013 campaign. The Raiders could easily decide to save themselves some money and go with younger and cheaper options on the roster that just might be more talented as well.
Rod Streater
An undrafted rookie in 2012, Streater drew a lot of attention for his performance in training camp and the preseason. He was limited to the third receiver role in their offense behind DHB and Moore. At the start of the season, he wasn’t involved very much, only posting 21 catches over the first 11 games of the season. He nearly matched that total over the last five games when he started to get more involved due to the struggles of the first two receivers on the team. His role should continue to grow, especially if the Raiders decide to move on from DHB.
Juron Criner
The 2012 fifth round rookie didn’t see the field very often during the season. He has great size and decent speed, but he has a long way to climb. He isn’t a premier talent, but he could develop into a complementary receiver to someone else. At this point, he is more someone to watch or to have on the end of your roster as a WR5 or WR6 than someone you can plan on starting anytime this next year.
Jacoby Ford
Ford missed the entire 2012 season with a Lisfranc injury. Primarily used as a return man, Ford is someone who did see limited time at receiver during his first two years. Coming off the injury, I expect Ford to be used as just a returner during the 2012 season unless one of the players in front of him end up getting injured. He doesn’t belong on fantasy rosters.
Tight End
Brandon Myers
Myers surprised just about everyone with his breakout season of 79 receptions for 806 yards and four touchdowns. He made for a nice PPR wavier pick up for those who were really struggling at tight end this season. Unfortunately for the Raiders, Myers is a free agent and could very easily be moving on. While he isn’t a dynamic talent, he is a solid three down tight end. NFL teams could do a lot worse. As far as the Raiders are concerned, they really don’t have much of anything behind Myers at tight end. However, with massive contracts for Palmer, McFadden and DHB, they don’t have the money to spend on a tight end.
- Final 2021 Pre-Draft Rookie Mock: Round Three - April 28, 2021
- Final 2021 Pre-Draft Rookie Mock: Round Two - April 26, 2021
- Final 2021 Pre-Draft Rookie Mock: Round One - April 25, 2021
