The Las Vegas Raiders will face the New Orleans Saints in Week 17. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Raiders and Saints skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 17 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Derek Carr, QB
Updated at 11:30 AM ET on Sunday, December 29
Carr is inactive for today's game.
Derek Carr has the potential to return this week for the Saints for reasons unknown, but his status shouldn’t be of concern in fantasy circles given the carnage around him at the skill positions.
Even with talent coming in and out, Carr has failed to throw multiple touchdown passes in the majority of his games this season, and that is going to render any pocket-locked signal-caller as close to useless.
I give him credit for trying to return to action and finish the season, but my fantasy bills aren’t paid on credit.
Aidan O’Connell, QB
The only quarterbacks with 150+ attempts and a lower touchdown rate than Aidan O’Connell this season are Spencer Rattler and Jacoby Brissett.
And yes, if you were wondering if Mac Jones, Daniel Jones, and/or Deshaun Watson have enough attempts to qualify, they do. Interestingly enough, his efficiency across the board improves when facing the blitz; it’s almost as if the less time he has to overthink things, the better.
That’s not the case for everyone, but it also might not matter this week with the ninth-lowest blitz rate coming to town. We need O’Connell to do one thing, and that’s funnel as many targets as humanly possible to Brock Bowers. He’s succeeded in doing that; if he can continue to do so, that’ll work. You’re not trying to invest mental/emotional energy into this team (or this game, for that matter) if you can avoid it.
Spencer Rattler, QB
There are a few instances this week where our DFS discipline is going to be challenged — “I know [INSERT QB] is struggling and might not be NFL-caliber, but how can I not get exposure to [INSERT DEFENSE]?”
Stay strong, my friends; stay strong.
Spencer Rattler was a disaster against the Packers on Monday night, and it resulted in the Saints being the first team shut out for four quarters this season. I’ll take the over on 0.5 points scored in this spot, but what is it that New Orleans’ backup QB can do that has you the least bit interested?
He’s run for over 25 yards in three starts this season, and that’s something, though his Saints have lost each of those games by at least 23 points while garbage time has factored in. I’m not sure either team is capable of providing such a script this week, so we can rule out the empty stats at the end of the game.
The layup targets are supposed to be where a QB like this thrives, especially in a playbook full of them. Not so much. Over his past three outings, Rattler has completed just 24 of 51 short passes, a rate (47.1%) that falls well short of the NFL average (73.5%)
There’s always 2025, Saints fans.
Ameer Abdullah, RB
Ameer Abdullah punched in a touchdown and caught five of six targets – it’s gross, but he’s been reasonably usable in four of his past six games. Alexander Mattison is the better bet to lead this team in the rushing production, but he’s done nothing to earn a featured role. As long as Abdullah is at least given the chance to reach 12-14 opportunities (carries + targets), there is low-end PPR appeal here.
This should be a competitive game (not a fun game, a competitive one), and that is the exact environment in which Abdullah gave us 85 yards and a touchdown last week. I’m not forecasting a repeat performance, but he’s at least a warm body if your roster is really hurting for viable options.
Alvin Kamara, RB
Updated at 11:30 AM ET on Sunday, December 29
Kamara is inactive for today's game.
Alvin Kamara has had a highly productive season (nine top-15 finishes) and is currently sitting at 1.2% over expectation for the year, his best mark since 2021. But the groin injury that sidelined him for Monday night certainly has the potential to hold him out this week, thus leaving you without a big part of your regular-season run in your biggest matchup of the year.
Kamara will turn 30 years old in July, and while the pass-catching skills have aged well, I continue to think that we are on borrowed time with him as a weekly asset. The rushing efficiency is fleeting to say the least (career-high 20.2% of his carries have failed to gain yardage this season), and if Kendre Miller can provide this franchise with confidence that he can be a two-down back, we could be looking at a hit-and-miss RB in an average offense that relies on checkdown passes.
That’s not to say Kamara won’t be usable in 2024 (the Saints have an out if they want it in his backloaded contract), but I think there’s a good chance his ADP reflects more name value than projectable production this offseason.
Alexander Mattison, RB
Alexander Mattison punched in a short score last week as the starting tailback against the Jaguars and even managed to earn seven targets in this offense that has far more questions than answers at this point.
The usage was nice, and the inefficiencies were predictable (2.3 yards per carry and a 57.1% catch rate). You can chase the role and Flex Mattison in deeper formats, but the problem is that I am more confident that the struggles to consistently gain yardage are more sticky than a role that saw him get 19 opportunities (12 carries and seven targets).
I’m giving him a 4-6 touch advantage edge to Ameer Abdullah, but at 3.2 yards per carry this season, you’re leaning heavily on the passing game where Abdullah is the preferred option and/or scoring chances, something that isn’t exactly the norm in Vegas these days.
Kendre Miller, RB
I think we can pretty safely rule out the Saints as a team at this point. They were unable to field a competitive team on Monday night, which resulted in Kendre Miller being fortunate to get to his 31 yards of production.
He’s the lead back in this offense and figures to hold that label for the rest of the season, but I’d rather Flex any receiver with any semblance of upside than chase my tail with this offense.
Sincere McCormick, RB
I’m generally skeptical about players self-reporting news, but Sincere McCormick’s posting on Instagram that he’ll “be back next season” following Week 15 seemed pretty straight forward. The team paid off his diagnosis by placing him on IR ahead of Week 16, thus ending his season.
The 24-year-old undrafted back out of UTSA was thrust into duty for a floundering offense for a few weeks and managed to pick up 4.9 yards per carry. He had a 15+ yard touch in all four games in which he touched the football and is a name to keep in the back of your head for next season.
It’s difficult to know what this backfield will look like in eight months and if this offense as a whole will be any better, but I was encouraged by the production we got in a tiny sample from McCormick.
Jakobi Meyers, WR
There is next to no room for error for Jakobi Meyers. Early in the season, I was fine with betting on that profile because his aDOT was low enough to ensure some level of efficiency, even with below-average quarterback play, but that hasn’t been the case lately.
- Weeks 1-12: 8.9 aDOT
- Weeks 13-16: 13.2 aDOT
We know that the quality of the target is always going to be low, so I’m not interested in introducing the variance that comes with extending routes in the Vegas passing game.
Meyers is a good player but not good enough for me to trust him with the fate of my team, even in a plus matchup.
Chris Olave, WR
Updated at 11:30 AM ET on Sunday, December 29
Olave is inactive for today's game.
Olave is nearing two straight months missed with a concussion, and while it is nice to see him nearing full health, betting on him seeing a full complement of snaps, if active, in this low-octane offense is a long shot.
Add in the fact that the quality of targets is far from a given, and you’re realistically looking at 2025 as the next time you can play this WR1.
This was a lost season for Olave, but don’t lose track of him at a top-heavy position this summer — he still has the tools to be a difference-maker in the first handful of rounds.
Brock Bowers, TE
On Sunday, Bowers joined Evan Engram (2023) and Zach Ertz (2018) as the only tight ends in the 2000s to have four double-digit-catch games in a season. That’s not a “rookie TE” list; it includes everyone in the position.
We thought Bowers (nine top-five finishes this season) would be a dynasty difference-maker, but not many had him penciled in as an elite Day 1 option in sub-optimal passing conditions due to this roster. You’re playing him with the utmost confidence to round out this season and moving forward — the part I’m struggling with is labeling his ceiling.
Given the explosion we’ve seen from Terry McLaurin this season, his first with above-average QB play, I’m tempted to give Bowers borderline historic potential if/when the Raiders improve their quarterback room.
Juwan Johnson, TE
Updated at 11:30 AM ET on Sunday, December 29
Johnson is active for today's game
Juwan Johnson caught both of his targets on Monday night (27 yards), but a 7.1% target share in a Spencer Rattler offense is far from ideal. To complicate matters further, Foster Moreau led the team in receiving with a whopping 33 yards.
Jordan Mims and Dante Pettis accounted for most of New Orleans’ targets, so there’s a world in which the target hierarchy flips this week, but are we sure it matters? Those two saw their 15 targets total 47 yards — that’s not going to get it done.
Before the Week 16 disaster, Johnson had three straight championship window games (Weeks 16-17) with over 11 PPR points. That streak ended on Monday, and it’s possible that he didn’t score 11 PPR points in those two weeks this season.