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Raiders' Week 10 Fantasy Outlook

Quarterback

There’s absolutely no way you should play Carson Palmer this week. He’s averaging 3 INTs a week and his yardage certainly isn’t making up for that. He threw for 3 touchdowns last week, but the INTs nearly balance out the point gain. The only reason he should start on your Fantasy roster is if it’s 10 minutes before kickoff, you have no backup and your usual starter is on a bye. Otherwise, no Palmer for you!

Running Backs

From all appearances, DMC will be out again this week. If you didn’t pick up Bush or Jones, then you didn’t miss too much. Bush had an impressive showing in comparison to previous weeks. He had 96 yards and his first touchdown of the season. That being said, the Chargers are fairly tough against the run, but Bush is going to have the majority of work in this game. Jones, however will get a few touches, but it most likely won’t translate into fantasy points. Consider Bush a strong RB2 this week after back-to-back strong showings.

Wide Receivers

What in Al Davis’ name happened to Darrius Heyward-Bey? DHB was fifth in the depth chart vs. the Broncos and by all accounts we can only assume that it was for disciplinary reasons. Or worse, the other two WRs, Jacoby Ford and Denarius Moore, caught on to the scheme faster than DHB during practice. In either case, the Oakland WR corps is bound to be a jumbled mess. Moore saw the most targets with 12, while Ford did the most with his targets (6) for 105 yards and a touchdown. Ford made for a popular waiver-wire add this week and deservedly so. He is an explosive playmaker and shows great rapport with CP3. Consider Ford a strong flex option this week and it’s wise to use the wait-and-see approach with the other pass catchers this late in the fantasy season.

Tight End

Kevin Boss should not be deployed even in the deepest of fantasy leagues. He failed to catch a pass vs. Denver and recorded two catches combined in Oakland’s last three games. We can conclude that the Raiders will utilize newly-signed TJ Houshmandzadeh out of the slot to catch short passes to move the chains, rendering Boss to blocking duties.

Kicker

Sebastian Janikowski is officially listed as Questionable (Rotowire) for Thursday’s tilt with San Diego. While he has a strong leg for fantasy purposes, we strongly advise that you pick up a replacement for this week and beyond.

Defense/Special Teams

I like many of you out there was burned by this defense last week vs. the Broncos. There was no excuses for last week’s showing and the defense as a whole should be ashamed of their performance. Tim Tebow looked like world-beaters and the newly-installed read-option playbook was effective. This week this unit gets a Chargers team. Avoid the Raiders’ defense at all costs this week. Sneaky alternatives this week include the Browns defense vs. the Rams and the Jags defense playing against the Colts.

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