Oakland Raiders: 3 Early breakout candidates for 2019

3. JJ Nelson, WR

There are few fantasy football players in the world that haven’t had J.J. Nelson on their roster at some point in time. The former Arizona Cardinal, who spent four years out in the desert, always displayed tremendous speed and the potential to break out if given the opportunity. Only that opportunity never came and, ultimately, his work was pedestrian for Arizona.

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Nelson’s most productive season came back in 2016 when he played in 15 games and wound up catching 34 balls for 568 yards and six touchdowns. Over the past two seasons, however, the inconsistent and often abhorrent quarterback play certainly hasn’t done him many favors, even if he never fully developed as a complete receiver and route-runner.

While that may be true, there’s no questioning the fact that Nelson is coming into a better situation on paper with the Raiders. There are very few receivers in the league who have the luxurious role of playing with guys as talented and dangerous as Antonio Brown and Tyrell Williams. That will open up the field a great deal for Nelson and, even if he’s still not a polished overall receiver, he should have lanes to beat defenses vertically.

There’s no question that the success of Nelson — as is the case with Brown, Williams and Oakland’s offense as a whole — will hinge on the performance of Derek Carr in the 2019 season. With that being said. the pass-catcher situation around Nelson seems to open the door for him to put up career-best numbers and make some real noise.