LAS VEGAS RAIDERS

Derek Carr has developed into the gold standard for passers that can get it done enough to keep a job, but not enough to get his team into contention. You want solid stats and a decent chance at staying in games? Derek is that dude, but if you want to make a serious championship run? Nah, Carr ain’t it…

And that pretty much sums up what to expect from the Chucky and Mayock led Raiders in 2021. There is more than enough talent at the skill positions on offense for Las Vegas to make a serious run at a playoff spot, but their top AFC West rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs, would have to suffer catastrophic injury to open the door up for a division title. That means they need to find themselves in the hunt for a wildcard spot in an AFC that will be extremely competitive. And that’s skipping past the surging Los Angeles Chargers, a team that could take a huge step in 2021 and put themselves in position to be the team that Kansas City has to deal with for the next decade when it comes to winning the division.

Ok, back to the Raiders roster…

At running back, Las Vegas is going to feature one of the more dynamic duos in Josh Jacobs and Kenyan Drake. The addition of Drake will give the Raiders a level at spell back that means the offense can run through the playbook seamlessly regardless of which back is in on any down. Few teams will have this solid of a pair to operate with, and it should provide even more coverage for Carr’s flaws by making the running game the consistent focal point, creating even cleaner opportunities for Derek.

For the wide receiving group, it really focuses around the speed players lifting off the top coverage so that tight end Darren Waller can continue putting up eye popping receiving totals as basically a big bodied wideout destroying match-ups across the middle of the intermediate. Henry Ruggs is the vertical player that can make that happen, and new addition John Brown only further enhances the Raiders ability to threaten the deep ball on both sides of the field. It gives the defense no choice but to keep the safeties out of the midfield where Waller feasts on lesser coverage options. If Bryan Edwards and Hunter Renfrow can continue to develop into solid options for Gruden to call on, the excuses for not making the post-season in the Gruden/Carr era will have virtually run out.

In regards to the offensive line, it was interesting to see the Raiders select Alex Leatherwood, mainly because the collective media gasp that followed it. You can put me down as a ‘thumbs up’ on the choice of Leatherwood and I expect him to be one of the better first round choices that Mayock has been a part of as the Raiders GM (yes, the bar is low…). However, it may be some games into 2021 that we see Alex get a crack at starting, but it probably has potential to happen considering the rest of the unit and the upgrades that are needed. Kolton Miller is going to be a solid left tackle for a long time, but the interior of the line needs to be improved on and it really is a shame that there wasn’t more focus on that in the off-season, especially considering the potential of the ground game in Vegas for 2021.

Things on the defensive side of the ball are not going to make the path for Las Vegas getting into the playoffs any simpler, and most likely will be the reason why a middling season is the standard once again for the Raiders. The DL has a lot of bodies, and a lot of new names, but there is still no clear solutions for the starting front. It could be that it all shakes out in the wash and a set of jersey numbers rises to the top, but the more likely scenario is a never ending rotation in search of someone that stands out enough to become ‘the guy’ at that spot.

Nicholas Morrow, Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkoski are set to be the top trio at linebacker, and it’s really a decent unit to build a foundation off of. The problem lies with the lack of depth to follow up with and Tanner Muse may actually be the best player to tag as the next man up. That is a problem, not a solution, as Tanner is more utility player than dedicated linebacker.

The secondary, on paper, looks like it should be the strength of the defense. There’s a lot of high draft capital hanging about just waiting to fill its potential, and the additions of Casey Hayward and rookie Trevon Moehrig should be the kind of moves that are more of a final check than absolute needs. The truth is, a lot of the bigger names (based on draft capital) in that defensive shell have underperformed. The one that stand out to me the most is Damon Arnette, as he was our 17th ranked CB in that class…

Seriously, that pick will probably go down as the worst value pick based on our rankings that ever happens in the draft.

Over/Under Wins in 2021 
Vegas – 7.5
L4SN – 7.5

I think Vegas is spot on with their for the O/U of the Raiders 2021 season. This feels like a team on a collision course with a schedule that doesn’t help them find ways to steal additional wins.

One thing is for certain, if the Raiders do fail to hit the .500 mark, there will be changes at quarterback for 2022.

Fantasy Depth Chart
QB
Derek Carr
Marcus Mariota
Nathan Peterman

RB
Josh Jacobs
Kenyan Drake
Jalen Richard
Theo Riddick
Garrett Groshek
Trey Ragas

WR
Henry Ruggs
John Brown
Bryan Edwards
Willie Snead
Hunter Renfrow
Zay Jones

TE
Darren Waller
Foster Moreau
Derek Carrier
Nick O’Leary

The Raiders fantasy players to know are the ones that everyone already talks about, so digging up some names that might pay dividends for the end of your bench is a bit on the slim side. Running backs Josh Jacobs and Kenyan Drake are going to be interesting to monitor as it is possible that Drake’s signing could limit Jacob’s touches depending on down/distance/situation. That really is the only concern with Josh though, as he still profiles as an absolute stud for fantasy purposes when it comes to RBs. If there were to be an injury to Jacobs, then Kenyan would be an immediately reliable points provider, so he’s worth handcuffing early or taking a flier on if you run with the ‘0-RB’ strategy. In that scenario, Jalen Richard would probably slide into a more prominent role, but if injury would befall Drake, then it probably just increases Jacobs value all the more.

At wide receiver, you can place all the names behind tight end Darren Waller. Seriously, Waller is the second player in silver and black to target after (or before, depending on format) Jacobs. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you may end up with similar value from one of the wide outs if you pass on Waller early and take a guy like Ruggs in a value slot later. It’s not going to happen.

As for Derek Carr, yes, you can get middling to above average point value out of him on a semi-consistent basis, but I don’t want to be the owner that ends up having him be more of a factor on my roster than needed. This is a passer that has managed to crack 4,000 yds the past three seasons, but hasn’t thrown for 30 TDs since 2015. There’s a hard cap on what his potential is, and there are plenty of other arms in the NFL that are going to have a chance to surpass Derek’s output in 2021.