Kickoff: Sunday, December 5th at 4:05 PM ET
Location: Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, NV
Betting Odds: LV, -1.5, 48.5 Total on Tipico Sportsbooks
Network: CBS
Washington Football Team
Quarterback
Taylor Heinicke (Start)
Taylor Heinicke with the wild completion 😳
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/7drRBA11GB
— ESPN (@espn) November 30, 2021
Taylor Heinicke is a winner, I don’t care if doesn’t start another game in his career. This is a guy who goes out any given Sunday and plays his heart out. Last week he had 223 yards, a TD, and an interception. Heinicke is QB15 up to this point in the season ahead of the likes of Matt Ryan, Russell Wilson, and Mac Jones. The Raiders secondary hasn’t been giving up many big yardage games to quarterbacks, but one stat they have surrendered to opposing QBs is TDs. Allowing the fourth most TDs to opposing QBs. That being said I like Heinicke to put up good QB2 numbers in this game and be a good Superflex option.
Running Backs
Antonio Gibson (Start), JD McKissic (Flex)
Antonio Gibson took this hit like a god-damn warrior.#WashingtonFootball pic.twitter.com/W2fnJsAha8
— Chad Ryan (@ChadwikoTWW) November 30, 2021
Antonio Gibson took his highest workload of the season, he was in there for 68% of the team’s offensive snaps. Gibson was targeted a season-high 7 targets, catching every one of them. I think Gibson is finally turning the Corner on his season, and if you have him going into the playoffs you will be incredibly happy. Gibson is an RB2 with RB1 upside in this game. JD McKissic had a bad injury scare at the end of last week’s game. Last week he was the beneficiary of both the Football Teams TDs. One thing to look at with this game is the Raiders have allowed the third-most TDs (4) to RBs, so if McKissic plays then he should have RB3/flex potential in this one.
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends
Terry McLaurin (Start), Logan Thomas (Flex)
Brandon Aiyuk body slamming Patrick Peterson, then earning a 15-yard penalty
pic.twitter.com/IoVowt7dDe— KNBR (@KNBR) November 28, 2021
Terry McLaurin has averaged 7 targets/game for the past four weeks. The problem is that McLaurin has cashed in on those opportunities averaging 60 yards/games in that same stretch. Being that he is the unquestioned WR1 on his team, these numbers aren’t WR1 numbers. I have McLaurin as a WR2 in this game. Logan Thomas is back and if he can start to convert more of those six targets he got last week then the Football Team will be in business. I think this is the week we see Thomas take advantage of the Raiders’ porous defense. The Raiders have given up the fourth-most yards (723) and third-most TDs (7) while allowing 11.3 fantasy points on average to opposing TEs.
Las Vegas Raiders
Quarterback
Derek Carr (Start)
Led the way to another clutch W.@derekcarrqb's best plays from today's win in Dallas.
More highlights on https://t.co/wXUK7ZZimE pic.twitter.com/lLgl6LbCfC
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) November 26, 2021
Derek Carr has been on and off this entire season, last week he threw for 373 and a TD. If he can bring that energy into this game then the Raiders should have no problem dissecting this exploitable defense. Carr has six games of 300 or more yards and I look for this one to be his seventh. Look for Carr to be a very solid QB2, borderline QB1 this week against the Washington Football Team.
Running Backs
Josh Jacobs (Start), Kenyan Drake (Sit)
This first move from @iAM_JoshJacobs 👀
📺: #LVvsDAL on CBS
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/H48mLvNIWh— NFL (@NFL) November 25, 2021
Josh Jacobs is coming off his second straight game of playing 66% of the team’s offensive snaps. Since Jon Gruden resigned from the team as Head Coach. Jacobs has thrived in a pass-catching role getting targeted four times a game on average since Week 6. I think it’s safe to say Jacobs is an RB2 for the rest of the season. Kenyan Drake‘s offensive snap percentage was at a season-low last week (18%). Since Week 6, Drake has had less than three targets a game, which is important because that was his role in this offense. That shows that Drake might be taking a backseat to Jacobs’ emergence. Drake isn’t a Flex this week, sit him if you got him.
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends
DeSean Jackson (Start), Hunter Renfrow (Start), Bryans Edwards (Sit), Foster Moreau (Start)
DJax loves playing here 😅@DeSeanJackson10 is GONE for six.#LVvsDAL | #RaiderNation | CBS pic.twitter.com/F4RmaTcLsv
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) November 25, 2021
Darren Waller will not be playing in this game and that opens the door for some opportunities to go to the Raiders receivers. I fully expect Hunter Renfrow to get the bulk of the targets in this game. This season Renfrow has eight or more targets in seven games this year. Last week Renfrow had eight catches for 134 yards, I look for him to try and replicate that night in this one. He should be a good option for WR2 without Waller. DeSean Jackson came in to fill the Henry Ruggs and last week we got a look into how well he can fill it. Jackson caught three passes for 102 yards and a TD. I look for Jackson to be a boom/bust flex in this game. Foster Moreau is usually pretty solid in relief of Darren Waller. This year he has 16 targets, 10 receptions, 105 yards, and 2 TDs when he starts the game at tight end. Moreau could be a good option this week, but not a locked and loaded TE1. Bryan Edwards was supposed to be a lot better than he is, over the last four games his totals are 9 targets, 4 receptions, 100 yards, and 1 TD. This stretch included a game where he was on the field for 83% of offensive snaps and didn’t log a target. If you need to put in Edwards then hell you need it, but if you can avoid it then I would.