Oakland Raiders: Fantasy football outlook for Week 2

The Oakland Raiders offense did not disappoint fantasy football owners in Week 1. Here is what you can expect from Oakland’s stars in Week 2.

The Oakland Raiders have an exciting fantasy matchup as they face the New York Jets in Week 2. The Raiders offense was hot on Sunday as they faced off against the Tennessee Titans, and they should continue to impress in Week 2.

The Jets defense struggled throughout Sunday to stop the Buffalo Bills from scoring and Oakland has a far better offense than the Bills. Here is what you should expect from the Raiders as you set your lineups in Week 2.

Possible Starters

Beast Mode is back! I had doubts about Marshawn Lynch’s effectiveness against a Titans run defense that ranked second in 2016. However, Lynch amassed 76 rushing yards on 18 carries, averaging 4.2 yards per carry. Now Lynch faces a Jets team that gave up 190 rushing yards in their first game.

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Lynch is set up to have a huge game on Sunday. This could easily be a 100+ yard, multiple touchdown game against a Jets defense that looked lost against the Buffalo Bills last week. Lynch should be considered a lock at any RB1 slot and should be a good value in daily fantasy lineups.

Quarterback Derek Carr is also set up to have a good game against a Jets secondary that struggled to stop Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor. Carr should definitely be considered a starter, although I think better options exist in daily lineups only because there is a chance this game becomes a blowout early and the Raiders rely on the run for the rest of the game.

Wide receivers Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree are very good options this week in both standard and daily fantasy. Cooper is perhaps the more intriguing play, simply because Oakland made an effort to give him looks in the red zone on Sunday, something they did not do last season.

At one point in Sunday’s game, Carr targeted Cooper on three-straight plays within the red zone. The first two were dropped by Cooper and the third was deflected. But still, if Carr and the Raiders continue to target to Cooper in the red zone he is going to be a fantasy beast this season.

Risky Plays and Your Bench

It is hard to advise against starting anyone when Oakland’s offense looked so good in Week 1 and the Jets defense looked so bad. I would hold off on hyping tight end Jared Cook too much, right now. Cook caught every ball thrown at him on Sunday, hauling in five receptions for 56 yards.

Cook looked surprisingly good out there, but he is only one-year removed from a 2016 campaign in which he caught 30 passes for 377 yards. At this rate, Cook will match that total by Week 7, but I want to see Cook consistently perform before recommending a start. He is an interesting name to pick up if available though.

Running backs DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard are both risky flex plays this week. The Jets have up 190 rushing yards in Week 1 and, while I expect Lynch to go off on Sunday, there should be plenty of touches for other backs to do well. The question is, though, is there enough touches for both to do well?

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My feeling is that one of the running backs has a good game here. However, it is impossible to tell which one it will be. In Week 1, Richard had much more success rushing the ball but Washington made more from catching passes out of the backfield. Likely, if you want to start either it will be a 50-50 shot on who gets the most opportunities.

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