The Las Vegas Raiders will face the New Orleans Saints in Week 17. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Raiders 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
