Summer Sleeper: Oakland Raiders
In our annual 32-part Summer Sleeper series, DLF scribes identify a lightly-touted player on each NFL roster who may be worthy of your consideration. Our subjects all have varying levels of “sleeperness,” but each merit a bit of in-depth discussion here in the Premium Content section.
To help everybody along, we are going to be categorizing our sleepers under one of three headings:
Super Deep Sleepers – Players who aren’t roster-worthy in 12-team leagues, but are still worth keeping an eye on.
Deep Sleepers – An end of the roster player who is more often than not on the waiver wire in 12-team leagues.
Sleeper – A likely rostered player who makes for a good trade target. Their startup ADP puts them out of the top-175 or so.
Because we aren’t going give you the likes of mainstream sleepers, most of these players will undoubtedly fizzle. All we are asking is for you to keep an open mind and perhaps be willing to make room for one of these players on your bench. You never know when the next Adam Thielen is going to spring up. Feel free to add your own thoughts about our choice for the designated sleeper, or nominate one of your own in the comments below.
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Connor Cook, QB
Category: Super Deep Sleeper
It may come to a surprise that a recognizable name will be on the Super Deep Sleeper list, but here we are. Cook was buried as a third quarterback behind Matt McGloin last season, and got his first start in the AFC Divisional Playoff game, becoming the first rookie quarterback ever to do so. He is still the third quarterback, but I would be surprised to see him lose to E.J. Manuel by the time the season starts.
Oakland also sees something in him as they traded up to bring him to the Bay Area. He is a big-armed pocket passer, with heavy accuracy issues. There is also concern that he can’t put all the pieces together and his elitist attitude can be traced back to his college days at Michigan State. He may also struggle knowing when to use a light spin versus a bullet. He does read his progressions at a top-notch level, and his confidence is evident. Cook can also make great touch throws in the end zone.
The first preseason game did not go Cook’s direction. Manuel got the start over him and was much more accurate facing a tougher defense. Cook threw 21 passes but completed just ten for 82-yards, while Manuel was good on 10 of his 12 passes for 107 yards. Neither threw an interception.
I would not recommend that Cook deserves a roster spot in a 12-team league, but his tools are present enough to be monitored at the very least. I keep him on my waiver wire radar and just see how he develops, if he ever develops, and go from there.
Elijah Hood, RB
Category: Super Deep Sleeper
This rookie comes out of North Carolina and is a beast among men. He stands at 5’11” and weighs in at 230 pounds; the same height as Marshawn Lynch and 15 pounds heavier. Hood will be invisible as long as Lynch is healthy and on the Raiders, but look for him to be used heavily in goal line and short yardage situations once Lynch decides to leave the NFL. In college, Hood rushed for 1,463 yards and 17 touchdowns his sophomore season. He fell back a bit his junior year as he shared time with T.J. Logan and missed two games, including the Sun Bowl.
He’s just a plain mountain of muscle who is decisive when he gets the rock. Hood doesn’t have great speed, but gets into top gear quickly. He bowls over tacklers and has good balance. Hood broke 28 tackles last year at North Carolina and was used in pass protection and a lead blocker at Chapel Hill. For a bigger dude, he can catch the ball and was used in the passing game for the Tar Heels.
However, he isn’t much outside of a grinder. Hood struggles to get outside and around the corner, and finds it hard to get around traffic in the backfield. The agility and elusiveness just isn’t there, and I think another year at the college level would have benefitted him. The thunder in the running game, Hood can work well under the Raiders system and should be used in short yardage and goal line situations.
Ishmael Zamora, WR
Category: Deep Sleeper
It was a little surprise to me when Ishmael Zamora was undrafted. He had issues with the law, which could have been his breaking point, but he has the talent to have been drafted somewhere. The Oakland Raiders didn’t waste any time and brought him in right away. He also has speed that kills. A bad boy with speed usually makes the perfect Raider.
A former track star in high school, he finished second on the team in receptions behind KD Cannon. Zamora finished his junior season with 63 receptions for 809 yards and eight touchdowns. He has a great body and frame for a wide receiver 6’4” and 215 pounds, making him a massive target. He has the speed to get by cornerbacks and overall has great potential.
Due to his track experience, but mostly his DNA, Zamora has great hip flexibility and leaping ability. He tracks the ball adequately and can separate out of his stem routes. He will bang and get extra yardage. Baylor didn’t teach him much about routes and he will rely more on his ability than acumen. Dropping the easy ones, Zamora drifts out of routes and should use better control of his body when framing out the defender.
If Zamora can use his hands better to block and develop more routes to his repertoire he could become someone with bench capability at the very least. The Raiders don’t have much opposite Amari Cooper, and Zamora could fill that vacancy in time.
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- FanDuel Bargains: Week Three - October 1, 2017
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- FanDuel Bargains: Week Two - September 17, 2017
