Dynasty Capsule: Oakland Raiders
Every year we give our premium content members a team-by-team, player-by-player look at the NFL season that was. The coverage will be in-depth, but because the Dynasty Capsule series begins immediately after the regular season, we won’t use it to discuss free agency or the draft. Come see us in early May once Mr. Irrelevant is off the board for another 32-article series giving you the same detailed discussion you’ll see below.
Buckle up dynasty fans, because you’re about to be reminded why our motto is, “There is no off-season.”
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Quarterback
When players go in the early rounds during a draft, they are not necessarily considered to be a great asset to the team right away. They are required to improve each year they are in the league. Derek Carr has done this, and was on his way to being named for the MVP of the NFL before a nasty injury. A good comparison would be to see Blake Bortles, Teddy Bridgewater, and Johnny Manziel and their performances so far – all three quarterbacks had landed with other teams before the Oakland Raiders selected their quarterback.
Carr was solid in his first four outings (New Orleans, Atlanta, Tennessee) in 2016, passing for 867 yards and five touchdowns but only one interception. Even better is that Oakland went 3-1. Obviously, you want those touchdowns to be more, but his touchdown to interception ratio is outstanding.
The Raiders played five games in October (Baltimore, San Diego, Kansas City, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay) and won four of the five. He improved this month getting 12 scores and just two interceptions, including a 500-yard passing game with four touchdowns and zero interceptions against the Buccaneers. He also added four touchdowns against the Ravens. His yardage numbers were low other than those two games, the other being San Diego (317 yards). The Chiefs, Jaguars, Ravens all held him under 226 yards. He was also highly accurate in those two months. In September he connected on 66.9 percent of his passes (79-for-118), and in October he was good on 65.9 percent of his throws (135-for-205).
Rolling into November, Oakland had a bye week so there were just three games played (Denver, Houston, Carolina) and the Raiders were victorious in all three. He was accurate against the tough Broncos passing defense, but it didn’t amount to any touchdowns or interceptions. Against the Houston Texans, he was much better, throwing for 295 yards and three touchdowns with just one interception. For the second straight game, Carr did not reach 300 yards passing. That would change against the Carolina Panthers – the Raiders signal caller was good for 315 yards and two scores with one interception.
When December arrived, the Raiders were riding high with Carr and had a 9-2 record. However, Carr did not reach 300 yards in a contest for the month, throwing at most 260 yards and a dismal 117 yard and no touchdown day against the Chiefs. His 260 yards came against the Bills, where he also finished with two scores and no picks in a win. Against the Chargers, he could only manage 213 yards and had one touchdown with just one interception. Then tragedy struck. On Christmas Eve, Derek Carr would break his leg in a blowout against the Indianapolis Colts. He was on top of the game as well, throwing three touchdowns and 232 yards.
To me, Derek Carr is the number three quarterback for dynasty purposes. He is right behind Aaron Rodgers, and close to passing him. According to the ADP data at DLF, he is going at the 77 pick and the fifth quarterback selected.
The career backup was called for when Carr went down with his broken leg. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make it through the game against the Denver Broncos. He was not very good, only completing six passes on 11 attempts for 21 yards. He did not have a touchdown or an interception. He missed a connection with Amari Cooper down the field for a wide open touchdown. By the end of the game, a Broncos defender slammed his shoulder into the ground and put him out. He would back up rookie Connor Cook in the loss to the Texans in the Wild Card round. He is now a free agent.
It’s hard to see the Raiders bringing him back in with Cook on the roster. More than likely, McGloin will get a chance to start somewhere or be on a team in need of a backup. His best season came in 2013, where he started a handful of games. He had 221 attempts and completing only 118 of them (55.9%). He also threw for eight scores and eight interceptions.
Cook had his NFL start in a playoff game against the Houston Texans, and it was not good. He was the first player in NFL history to make his NFL debut in a playoff game, and his numbers showed. He completed 18-of-45 (40 percent) passes for 161 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. A 40 percent accuracy rating is not going to get you in many games.
Cook is a gunslinger who fails to be accurate. Regardless of the situation Cook faced, a pro quarterback needs to be better. He threw several passes over wide receiver’s heads. His first interception was a Jadeveon Clowney pick that set up the first score of the game. His next two were passes over Amari Cooper’s head and behind Andre Holmes. His lone touchdown came late in garbage time to Holmes.
As long as Carr is healthy, Connor Cook won’t see the field. He may not even be a number two next season if Oakland decides to re-sign Matt McGloin.
Running Back
Running back Latavius Murray is not very good, but he excels as the bigger piece of the running back puzzle. He started the season scoring in eight of the first eleven games, having multiple touchdown games in three of those. Then he disappeared in the last three games and didn’t score at all. He only had two 100 yard games. The first was in Denver, where he had his best game of the season, rushing for 114 yards on 20 carries scoring three times. Against the Chiefs, he put up 103 yards on 22 carries and scored once. He only caught one pass total for 13 yards.
The rest of the season, Murray rushed for 82 and 81 yards but didn’t go for more than 59 yards the rest of the way. In some games he also had a small workload, carrying the ball twelve or fewer times in six of the 14 games played. Overall, he rushed 195 times for 788 yards and had 12 touchdowns. Murray also contributed to the passing game with 33 receptions for 264 yards.
It will be interesting to see how the Oakland Raiders approach Latavius Murray’s contract. He is a free agent now and is not restricted. There will be teams that are going to be interested in the 27-year-old, but will the Raiders want to pony up the cash to keep him, or put their hopes on rookies Richard and Washington? Plus, there is always a possibility that the Raiders draft a running back. They seem to be good at it, having taken Murray in the sixth round out of UCF and Washington in the fifth.
Murray is going around the 59th pick in DLF ADP data and the 14th running back selected.
DeAndre Washington was the fifth round pick for the Oakland Raiders in 2016. He was impressive in both camp and preseason and was the second piece to the puzzle for the running back crew. He dropped into the fifth round because of his size. He stands at 5’8” and weighs 204 pounds. His thick body and legs allow him to take blows continuously. Washington proved at Texas Tech that he could be durable as he carried the rock 20 times a game as a senior which led him to be an All-Big 12 first team. He impressed scouts with his talent running and catching the football.
He is a good pass protector, so that will get him on the field on third downs. Washington has a high gear that he can get to quickly and stay there. He will need to improve his reading ability against the defense and struggles against the bigger blitzing positions.
Washington didn’t get much work overall but was very productive for his sample size. For instance, he only rushed the ball 52 times in the first eight games. His largest volume came against the Chiefs as he had ten carries and he garnered 267 yards (5.13 ypc) through the first half. He would only have 35 more carries the rest of the season (six games), adding 200 yards (5.7 ypc) and two scores.
He would accumulate 87 carries for 467 yards and two touchdowns in total. Both scores were against the Colts. He didn’t contribute to the passing game all that much, catching 17 passes for 115 yards. Oakland used Washington in the way to maximize his potential. However, coming into his second season, can he be more than a gadget? Oakland never explored that option at all.
Washington is going around the 125.5 mark and the 40th running back taken in the DLF ADP.
When a UDFA captures the attention of coaches, it becomes a big deal. Richard did just that. By the time he was running the ball in camp, he had brought in attention. He damaged the scene in week one against the New Orleans Saints, taking a handoff and going for a 75-yard touchdown.
“A guy like Jalen, to step up and play as big as he has … (when) just to be here was a shock because it was a tryout,” head coach Jack Del Rio said. “Then, he comes into camp, and he tears it up. The opening game, he makes huge plays to help us win, and he hasn’t looked back.”
Richard has been making his bones by being on special teams and returning punts and kickoffs for touchdowns. The main question becomes where he will fit for the Raiders next season? He’s built like DeAndre Washington, and both have the same skill-set. The results were nearly the same for their rookie seasons as well. Richard finished with 83-491-1.
We will have to wait for preseason next year to see what happens with Murray, and what Oakland does with either back (Washington and Richard). At this point, it’s a toss-up, but my money is on Richard if the Raiders decide to use a single back (doubtful).
Richard is going around the 148.5 mark and the 46th running back selected.
Jones has one more year on his contract. He will only make $1.1 million, so unless something else pops up, the Raiders most likely will retain him. He has been with Oakland since 2011 and has done nothing. He has scored just one touchdown on a reception and has not seen more than 16 carries in a single year. In 2015, he had more receiving yards (106) than he did rushing (74). He is waiver wire fodder.
He is the man who does a lot with one carry each game. The 6’1” and 240-pound fullback is a boulder, and he can even catch the football. In his first four games, he had four carries for 13 yards and one touchdown. His next four his carries bumped up to ten and had 33 yards and another score while catching three passes for 71 yards. He would only have three more carries and gain just one total yard the rest of the way, but he did add three receptions.
He is not worth rostering unless you are in touchdown-only leagues. With the tiny running backs the Raiders have, they need Olawale to carry the rock for short yardage and goal line duty. This renders him useless in all other formats.
Wide Receiver
It took four games for Cooper to score his first touchdown this season. Minus the touchdowns, Cooper had a solid set of eight games. Six of the eight he caught five or more passes and he had two games where he had double-digit receptions (10 and 12). He double-dipped against the Kansas City Chiefs (10-129-0) and Tampa Buccaneers (12-173-1). The Bucs game was his best of the season.
In four of those eight games, he went over 100 yards (137, 138, 129, 173). Against the New Orleans Saints (6-137-0), San Diego Chargers (6-138-1), and the other two were against Tampa Bay and the Chiefs. Cooper would stumble the rest of the season.
He would have three games of five receptions or more, and his most was a six catch game. He also didn’t have a game where he hit the century mark in yards. He did have three touchdowns. He would score against the Houston Texans (4-57-1), the Buffalo Bills (2-59-1), and Denver Broncos (4-39-1). When Cooper didn’t score touchdowns, he caught more passes against the opposition.
He was good against Denver (6-56-0), Kansas City (5-29-0), and the Indianapolis Colts (5-76). The two clunkers in the season came against the Carolina Panthers (4-22-0) and the Chargers (1-28-0). On the season Cooper finished with 83 receptions for 1153 yards and five touchdowns. He also was named to another Pro Bowl.
Amari Cooper is going as the sixth pick in DLF ADP as the fourth receiver taken.
Some say Crabtree had a better season than his teammate, especially in PPR leagues. He did catch more balls and had more touchdowns, but Cooper held the advantage in yards. It was Crabtree’s second solid season with the Oakland Raiders, the team that passed him over for Darrius Heyward-Bey. While Heyward-Bey has played for two other teams in that time, Crabtree signed a five-year $34 million contract.
He was excellent in the first three games of 2016, catching a total of 19 passes for 220 yards while scoring once. His best game in October came in the game against Tennessee (8-102-0). His touchdown was in a loss against the Falcons (4-31-1), and he also caught seven passes against the Saints (7-87-0).
In October, he slid a bit in back-to-back games against the Chargers (3-47-0) and Chiefs (2-10-0). But the other three games he caught seven, eight and eight. Crabtree went for over a hundred against the Bucs (8-108-0), 96 yards against the Jaguars and the Ravens couldn’t contain him anywhere on the field (7-88-3).
Crabtree’s first two games in November were not very good, catching a total of five passes for 32 yards and no touchdowns against Denver (2-27-0) and Houston (3-5-0). He did pick it up with an 8-110-0 performance when facing the Panthers. The strong performance against Carolina carried Crabtree into December, catching 7-74-1 against the Bills. Even though the Chiefs game was another low point in the season (4-21-0), he made up for it in the last three games against the Chargers (6-60-1), Colts (7-90-0), and Broncos (5-47-0). He would finish the season catching 89 passes for 1003 yards and eight touchdowns.
Crabtree is going on average at the 44.67 mark of DLF ADP and the 28th receiver off the board.
Seth Roberts will enter his third season as an Exclusive Rights Free Agent. He has been the Raiders third receiver for the last two years when he was picked up by Oakland as a UDFA in 2015 out of West Alabama.
In 2016, Roberts caught a pass in 15 of the 16 games played. His best game came against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when he caught three balls for 69 yards and a touchdown, making it his highest volume game in yards. He routinely grabbed three catches a contest and hovered around the 30-yard mark.
Roberts is the 91st receiver off the board and 203.17 selection.
The 28-year old veteran is now a free-agent and will turn 29 by the start of the 2017 season. He hasn’t done much since coming over from the Dallas Cowboys, but he has big play ability and makes an excellent fourth receiver for the Raiders. His 6’4” and 210-pound frame allows him to play the wing while Crabtree can move into the slot.
Holmes finished the season with 14 catches and 126-yards and three touchdowns. Last season, he didn’t do much better (14-201-4). In 2014 he had his best season as a Raider, catching 47 passes for 693 yards and four scores. Holmes will find a home somewhere, and I am sure he would like to stay with the Raiders, but there is not much room for him.
He will either have to accept the lesser role for a chance to win a championship or go to a team and be their second banana.
Johnny Holton
Speedy wide receiver Johnny Holton did not see much action. However, the Raiders contracted him as a UDFA out of Cincinnati for three seasons. Standing at 6’1” and weighing in at 190 pounds he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.54 time. He has a vertical of 31 ½ inches and a broad jump of 123 inches.
In college seasons of both 2014 and 2015, he accumulated 46 receptions for 897 yards and ten touchdowns. He had much better YAC in 2015 (27.1 yards) on a stat line of 17-461-5 compared to 2014 (14.9 yards) on 29-431-5. Holton also played in just eight games for Cincinnati in 2015 due to the Bearcats depth at the position and a hamstring injury.
Holton is a playmaker and deep threat with great straight-line speed. He gets separation on the fly and is talented enough to be the Raiders kick returner, but has a limited route tree – basically, he’s the typical Al Davis type of player. It will be up to him to make the difference of just being relegated to special teams or a multi-use player, but he will have to develop his route patterns.
Tight End
Many thought this was going to be the season that a tight end would emerge from the Raiders and Clive Walford was going to be that player. However, it didn’t happen, and Walford finished the season with 35 receptions for 375 yards and three touchdowns. His numbers weren’t too far off his rookie stats of 28-329-3. Now to the question: do the Oakland Raiders have a tight end worth rostering? They have not had much luck. You would have to go back to 1999 when Rickey Dudley caught nine touchdowns.
As for Walford, the Raiders would love to get him involved more. He was a third round draft selection from Miami, standing at 6’4” and weighing in at 251 pounds. He seemed to be at his best when facing the Chiefs this season, catching nine passes for 99 yards (no touchdowns).
His touchdowns came in a good stretch of games where he scored in three of four contests, but he was never seen crossing the goal line the rest of the season. The first was against the San Diego Chargers (2-42-1), then after being absent against the Jets, he caught one pass against the Pittsburgh Steelers for one yard and a score and followed that up against the Minnesota Vikings with 2-18-1.
Walford is the 19th tight end taken and 185.67 overall.
The backup tight end is now a free agent, and I am doubtful Rivera will be back with the Raiders in 2017. His role has seriously diminished since Oakland drafted Walford. In 29 games in the last two seasons, Rivera had only 50 receptions for 472 yards and two touchdowns. Three years ago, he turned in a 58-534-4 season.
Ryan O’Malley
The UDFA rookie Ryan O’Malley will likely step up into the Rivera role if the Raiders do not sign him. O’Malley seems to be another find for Oakland who did not get selected in the 2016 NFL draft. He now joins players such as running back Jalen Richard, offensive guard Denver Kirkland, defensive tackle Darius Latham, wide receiver Johnny Holton, and cornerback Antonio Hamilton.
The big guy stands at 6’6” and weighs 258 pounds. He is out of the Ivy school of Pennsylvania. The Raiders did sign him to a three-year $1.62 million contract, making him a restricted free agent in 2019.
In 2015, Lee Smith signed a three-year, $9.1 million contract which includes $3.1 million guaranteed. He started his career with Buffalo in 2011 and stayed with the Bills through the 2014 season. Smith came over to the Raiders as more of a blocking tight end but caught six passes in four games, before going down with a season-ending injury. He caught 12 last year in 15 games, so perhaps he will get more involved in the offense?
Gabe Holmes is an Exclusive Free Agent this season. It is unknown if the 6’5 and 255-pound tight end out of Purdue will be back. He was another UDFA for the Raiders in 2015. He was in place to be Oakland’s fourth tight end in 2016 but was hurt early this year in August with a high ankle sprain. The injury ended his season. When healthy, he can play as an in-line tight end or flex option. He has the frame to be more of a blocker than receiver, however. If that is the case, then his free-agent status may remain, and he will have to find a new home. O’Malley will most likely return as he is under contract.
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- FanDuel Bargains: Week Three - October 1, 2017
- FanDuel Bargains: Week Three - September 24, 2017
- FanDuel Bargains: Week Two - September 17, 2017
