The Las Vegas Raiders aren’t expected to win a whole lot of games this season, with a team win total hovering between 5.5 and 6.5.
They are also projected to score just 18.8 points per game, among the bottom five in the league, according to the Sharp Football Analysis data based on implied point totals.
There is a great deal of optimism for two of their young offensive stars, however.
The Raiders are one of just five NFL teams to have two players being selected within the first two rounds of fantasy drafts, based on average draft position of the major fantasy sites.
Three of those teams, the Detroit Lions, Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys are projected to finish in the top six in the league in scoring. The only other outlier is Atlanta, which is 24th at 21 points per game.
Those are just some of the insights that can be gleaned from a dive into the fantasy, data and sports betting worlds as the season approaches.
The Raiders’ Brock Bowers has surged far ahead of Arizona’s Trey McBride as the top tight end in fantasy drafts. His ADP as of Sunday afternoon, in the homestretch of draft season, is at 21.8.
Bowers has a season-long receiving prop of around 950.5 yards, which most data sites expect him to fly over should he remain healthy. The total receptions number is at 84.5.
Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty is one of the most debated players in the fantasy football world.
He was flying off the board in the first round of nearly every fantasy draft over the last few months, but two developments have changed the outlook tremendously.
First, he suffered an injury that was vague enough for a few days that he was dropping to the middle rounds for about two days.
Then rookie fourth-round pick Mike Washington Jr. became the darling of the preseason, leading to some fear in the fantasy community that Klint Kubiak could once again play villain like he did in Seattle by utilizing both Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet. That was a great formula in the real world, but a nightmare for fantasy managers.
So Jeanty has settled into an ADP of 20.7. That’s 12th among running backs, but a marked decline from his borderline top 10 status of a month ago.
Jeanty’s season-long rushing prop is off some betting boards because of the uncertainty, but is around 974.5 in the markets where it is still available. He has a receptions total of 51.5.
So with two of the league’s most explosive players projected to have big seasons and one of the league’s sharpest young offensive minds taking over as coach in Kubiak, why is there still so much skepticism in the markets about the Raiders and their offense?
Look no further than the supporting cast.
While the offensive line should be improved, it hasn’t really proven it yet. And there is little belief that anyone else will step up around Bowers and Jeanty.
None of the Raiders receivers are being selected in the top 150 of most drafts.
Tre Tucker leads the way with an ADP of 154, which is 60th among all receivers. Jalen Nailor is 63rd at 157.5, while Jack Bech and Malik Benson are outside the top 100 with roster ownership at less than 1 percent.
Benson, however, is an intriguing player for dynasty leagues and has developed an instant chemistry with rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
The No. 1 overall pick is unsurprisingly also a popular dynasty play, but he is actually going ahead of starter Kirk Cousins even in redraft leagues.
Neither is a very popular selection, however. Mendoza’s ADP is 30th among all NFL quarterbacks, with Cousins a few spots behind in 33rd.
Mendoza’s season-long props have mostly been taken off the board with the official announcement he will not be starting.
So the market doesn’t have much faith in the Raiders offense as a whole despite being very bullish on their two stars.
It may be even more pessimistic about the other side of the ball.
Despite a very favorable opening matchup against the Miami Dolphins, the Raiders defense and special teams are 28th in ADP and are projected to finish 30th by FantasyPros.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.
