If I am being brutally honest with you, I have no idea what the Raiders plan to do about the 2024 season. Receiver on Netflix showed that Davante Adams hates basically everything about being a part of the Raiders, and they responded by getting another weapon, and are entering the season with two below-average quarterbacks (Gardner Minshew & Aidan O’Connell). Heading into the 2024 NFL season, you would likely be best served ignoring the Raiders (except for one rookie tight end, maybe). Given how little I endorse rookie tight ends, that tells you everything you need to know about the 2024 Las Vegas Raiders & their fantasy football prospects.
Overvalued: Zamir White, Running Back (RB23, Pick 77 Overall)
Every season, after the stud running backs, and before the sleepers, 1Bs, pass-catching backs, and general value picks at running back, there is the “Running Back Dead Zone.” These are generally players who end up pushed up thanks to the position drying up & people still trying to chase volume. It’s called the dead zone because the juice just isn’t worth the squeeze, with players going in this range vastly underperforming their draft price. Last season’s poster boys were Alexander Mattison (RB20, finished RB39) and Cam Akers (RB23, finished unranked). In 2022, it was Clyde Edwards-Helaire (RB24, finished RB34) and… Cam Akers (RB19, finished RB35).
This year, it’s Zamir White’s turn. The Raiders are turning to White thanks to his strong finish down the stretch, where he spelled an injured Josh Jacobs to the tune of 67 carries and 9 catches for 372 yards across three games. That catch volume is deceiving, as he had 5 catches in one game and one catch across his other two games. He also had zero touchdowns. With no catches in his projections, and a bad offense holding down his touchdown totals, I see White as the 2024 RB Dead Zone Poster Boy.
Undervalued: Brock Bowers, Tight End (TE13, Pick 122 Overall)
Once you get past Evan Engram at TE8, tight end is pretty much a crapshoot. There’s Jake Ferguson, David Njoku, Dallas Goedert, and T.J. Hockenson all going before Brock Bowers. Ferguson is a pretty good pick there but after that… David Njoku has a 4-foot average depth of target with Deshaun Watson, Dallas Goedert is the passing game third-fiddle in a run-first offense that added one of the league’s best running backs, and T.J. Hockenson is currently hurt, and is likely to start the season on PUP as he recovers from a late-season ACL tear. Those guys, plus Bowers, make up the top of the tight end blob. If you’re diving into the blob, there is no reason to take Njoku, or Goedert, or Hock over Bowers. Fergo is questionable, but I would still take him over Bowers. If you’re diving this deep at tight end, don’t go for the floor, shoot for the ceiling. TE15 will still be there on the waiver wire if Bowers falls flat.
Sleeper: Gardner Minshew, Quarterback (QB33, Pick 231 Overall)
Gardner Minshew is going to be the starting quarterback for the Raiders; that’s clear as day, especially since AOC is very bad. He’s also bad in the “limits your ceiling” sort of way. Minshew might also be bad, but he’s bad in the “I am going to try to push this offense as hard as I can and if things break, they break” sort of way. That second way is good for your fantasy football assets. The Raiders have a couple of good ones, with Davante Adams and Brock Bowers, as well as Jakobi Meyers and the now-relegated to TE2 Michael Mayer. This is a pure 2QB league play here, but Minshew is a great value QB3 because he provided a nice QB2 floor. In ten of his thirteen games where he was the starting QB, Minshew posted at least a QB23 finish. That’s not a lot, but the Raiders are terrible, so “Gardner Minshew is a sleeper QB2 in 2QB leagues,” is the best that you’re going to get from me. Lay off me.
