2024 Team Previews: Las Vegas Raiders

Las Vegas Raiders 2024 Preview

All ADP data is courtesy of Fantasy Pros.

** = target in drafts at this ADP

Top 120         

Davante Adams, WR (ADP: 17, WR10): Adams is an interesting player to draft this season, because he has some red flags heading into 2023. He’s beginning to get a bit long in the tooth at age 32, he dealt with inconsistency in 2022, a rarity for Adams, and he fell below double-digit touchdowns for the first time since 2019 when he was limited to 12 games. On the flip side, Adams is still the clear-cut alpha of this passing game, and his final numbers – 103 receptions, 1,144 yards, eight touchdowns – are still those of a WR1. So the question really is whether or not he’s still an actual elite player on the field. It appears that he is.

Per Reception Perception, Adams was still an elite man-beater (85th percentile, 76.1% success) and even better vs. zone (90th percentile, 84.4%) while also proving impervious to press coverage (91st percentile, 80.3%). His only below average routes were corners and comebacks, which were also some of his least-run patterns in 2023, while he was positively dominant on slants, digs and nines, which were the routes he ran most. He commanded the second-most targets in the NFL only to CeeDee Lamb, so really nothing much has changed about him as a player. He is still among the absolute best WR1s in football, and his biggest issue is shoddy QB play, which will continue to be an issue in 2024 with Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew duking it out to be the starter.

Those QBs might hold him back from hitting the ceiling his talent dictates he has, but I wouldn’t be concerned about him delivering on this ADP. Even though O’Connell and Minshew are bottom-level starters, they know where their bread is buttered.

Zamir White, RB (ADP: 67, RB23): White looks like he’s the lead back here for an offense that, under Antonio Pierce, will probably lean on the running game. White’s season-ending numbers aren’t instructive because he spent most of the year behind Josh Jacobs, but he did outperform Jacobs when he had the opportunity and that led the Raiders to bid Jacobs adieu. White went crazy to end the season, averaging 21 attempts and 99.3 rushing yards per game from Weeks 15-18. He only caught nine passes for 60 yards in that span though, signaling that White is probably a volume-based back who isn’t likely to see the field on passing downs. That matters, and makes TDs a more important part of his profile. White has the look of a player who will get a lot of work, score TDs and be a quality RB2, but talent-wise he doesn’t stand out, and it isn’t like he’s alone in this RB room.

The case for him to be an RB2, which this ADP says he is, looks good on paper. But he has no track record aside from a hot four-week stretch, and he’s going ahead of players simply because of this assumed job security. This ADP could work out, but I don’t think White’s role is anywhere near guaranteed enough do draft him as more than a FLEX option.

**Brock Bowers, TE (ADP: 100, TE11): Bowers is a super talented TE prospect, and while it would’ve been nice to see him land on a team with a higher offensive ceiling, the Raiders skill players are a quietly solid group. Oftentimes rookie TEs can be gassed up and overdrafted; in this case, despite his obvious ability, the enthusiasm seems completely muted by the Raiders’ bleak QB outlook.

There is a world in which Bowers is second on this team in targets to Adams, and he proved he could get into the end zone with regularity at George, never falling below six TDs and scoring 13 times in his first season with the Bulldogs. He’ll surely have ups and downs, but so will many more proven players at the position. A Sam LaPorta rookie season is within his range of outcomes, and even if he falls well short of that, a TE11 season is probably around his floor.

Fantasy Relevant (120-150 ADP)

Jakobi Meyers, WR (ADP: 135, WR54): Meyers had some very big games early last season, and it looked like he was on his way to really powerbombing his preseason ADP until he hit a lull like much of this offense. Meyers did set a new career-high in touchdowns with eight, but his final numbers looked almost identical to 2022, his final year as the WR1 for New England. Meyers is a quality WR, and someone you can start in fantasy leagues, but this ADP makes sense because what we saw in 2023 is his ceiling. He’s a fine player, but not special, and his floor is lower than you think because the Raiders’ QB play could go in the toilet this season. Even at this ADP difference, I’d much rather gamble on Bowers’ to be the second receiving game option in Las Vegas.

Favorite Deep Sleeper

Michael Mayer, TE (ADP: 290, TE39): Mayer, a second round TE in 2022, has seen his stock tumble with the arrival of Bowers. It makes sense, as Bowers is a high-powered version of Mayer in an offense that’s already fairly crowded without a QB capable of supporting many players consistently. Still, he averaged 11.3 yards per catch last season and scored twice. His final numbers weren’t special – 27 receptions, 304 yards, two touchdowns – but rookie TE numbers rarely are, and he passed the eye test. He probably won’t be fantasy relevant until a prolific QB is under center in Vegas, but I do like the talent, and this roster is set up in such a way that two-TE sets could be a regularity.

Deep Cuts (150 & later)

Alexander Mattison, RB (ADP: 226, RB65): Mattison was a big old bust as the Vikings’ “lead back,” last season, getting bypassed by Ty Chandler and finishing with just 892 yards from scrimmage, so it makes sense his ADP has plummeted to the realm of the undrafted. But realistically, are we sure Zamir White is this much better than Mattison? They’re both power backs without much elusiveness, and Mattison has legitimate receiving chops, which we have not seen from White. I’d bet Mattison is more involved than many are expecting, and while that doesn’t mean he should be drafted, it does mean that White’s price tag is probably too high.

Gardner Minshew II, QB (ADP: 239, QB33): We all like Minshew, and he has his blowup games, but ultimately he’s just a very ordinary player. He supported Michael Pittman Jr. last season filling in for Anthony Richardson, so Minshew winning the job wouldn’t be bad news for Davante Adams. But as far as fantasy managers go, outside of SuperFlex and two-QB leagues something has gone horribly wrong if he’s in your lineup.

Aidan O’Connell, QB (ADP: 274, QB37): O’Connell was a rough watch last season, and he got the job more because of the quirks of Jimmy Garoppolo’s contract rather than the Raiders genuinely believing he’s a better player. Now he and Minshew will battle for the job, but I’d be willing to bet whoever wins gets benched eventually in favor of the other at some point. Neither are very good, nor is either relevant outside of SuperFlex/two-QB leagues.

Tre Tucker, WR (ADP: 317, WR106): Tucker played a bit more in the final two games of the season, averaging 57.5 yards in those two games and 16.4 yards per catch. It’s likely meaningless, but he’s got some explosiveness to him, which is a contrast from Adams and Meyers who are much more route technician archetypes. Like Mayer, he likely needs much better QB play to sniff fantasy relevance, but he’s talented enough to warrant a mention.