Sit/Start Week 10: Reviewing All the Fantasy Relevant Players In Every Single Game

Chargers@Raiders

 

Game Info

Kickoff: Thursday, November 7th at 8:20 pm EST

Location: The Coliseum, Oakland, CA

Betting Odds: LAC -1, 48.5 via Oddsshark

Network: FOX, NFL Network, Amazon Prime

Sleeper Spotlight: Hunter Renfrow

 

Los Angeles Chargers 

 

Quarterback: 

• Philip Rivers (start, low-QB1)

 

Rivers hasn’t shown much of a ceiling this season with his highest result being the fantasy QB 9. He threw the ball a season-low 28 times last week with a new play-caller. The matchup doesn’t get much better this week as the Raiders have given up top-six results to the position in 5 of their last 7 games. They also struggle to generate pressure as they are last in pressure percentage and bottom-10 in sacks and QB hits on the season. The Chargers offensive line is well known to be shaky but they are seventh in adjusted sack rate as Rivers is a master at getting the ball out quickly. Start Rivers with confidence as he is a top-10 play on the week.

 

Running Backs:

• Melvin Gordon (start, high-RB2)
• Austin Ekeler (start, low/mid-RB2)

 

Gordon finally looked like the player he was last season and he was rewarded with a season-high in carries (20), touches (23), and snap percentage (63%). He has at least three targets in every game he has played in and gets the majority of the goalline work for this offense. The Raiders are 11th in rush defense DVOA so this isn’t a great matchup. With his newfound usage, Gordon can be trusted as a high-end RB2. Ekeler was in on a season-low 34% of the snaps. He handled a whopping 16 touches (most since week 5) on his 24 snaps. We know he isn’t going to see the majority of work unless the Chargers get down by a large amount. However, he is still heavily involved in the gameplans and gets solid usage in the passing game. He should be a fine lower-end RB2 this week.

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

• Keenan Allen (start, high-WR2)
• Mike Williams (start, low-WR2/flex)
• Hunter Henry(start, high-TE1)

 

Since Henry has returned from injury in week six, Allen is the WR43 over that period. He is second on the team in targets over that time and is fifth in the NFL in air yards over the last month. This is as good as it gets for wide receivers as Oakland has allowed the most fantasy points to the wide receiver position. With the Raiders struggling so badly to get pressure, it should allow Allen to convert some of those air yards this week. Williams has the second-most air yards since week five and he is the WR22 over that span. He caught 10 touchdowns last year but currently has zero. The Raiders have allowed the third-most touchdowns to wide receivers this year and Williams is due for a major regression. Henry has the most receptions, targets, yards, and air yards at tight end since returning from injury in week six. Henry is a no brainer high-end TE1 against these Raiders. I want to start all three of these guys if I have them because they won’t have a better matchup this year.

 

Oakland Raiders

 

Quarterback:

• Derek Carr (start, mid-QB2)

 

Carr has also struggled to find a ceiling this season as he has one top-12 fantasy performance. The Chargers have also allowed only 2 of 9 QBs faced to finish in the top-12. Oakland’s offensive line has been awesome as they are ranked second in adjusted sack rate on the season. The Chargers have been above average in pressure percentage but are 18th and 22nd respectively in sacks and QB hits. With four startable quarterbacks on a bye this week, Carr would be an okay fill-in but a better two-quarterback league play.

 

Running Backs:

• Josh Jacobs (start, strong RB1)

 

Jacobs’s role is pretty clear, which is a good thing in fantasy football. He doesn’t get much passing game work (16 targets in 8 games) but gets most of the carries and red-zone work. He has 17 or more touches in each of his last five games. The Raiders offensive line is fourth in adjusted line yards and the Chargers are 25th in run defense DVOA.  The chargers also have four players in their front-seven questionable for this week’s game. Fire Jacobs up as an RB1 in a strong matchup.

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends:

• Tyrell Williams (sit, low-WR2/3)
• Hunter Renfrow (sit, bench stash)
• Darren Waller (start, high-TE1)

 

Williams has seen six or more targets in 4 of his 6 healthy games this year. He is likely to see a lot of stud cornerback Casey Hayward who has surrendered one touchdown and only 211 yards on 32 targets this year. I would avoid playing him if I have other options. He has needed five touchdowns to return most of his value this season. Renfrow quietly has 18 and 17 PPR points the last two weeks and has his two highest yardage totals in those games as well. He can’t be trusted in standard leagues yet but is one to keep an eye on. Waller saw a season-low two targets last week but still has the second-highest target share for his team at the tight end position. He has been one of the best tight ends of the season and should be started every week with confidence. 

–Kevin Taylor (@ktbeast918)