Fantasy Football Daily - 2022 Franchise Focus: Las Vegas Raiders

Episode Date: July 12, 2022

Joe Dolan (@FG_Dolan) invites The Athletic's Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) to discuss the upcoming season for the Las Vegas Raiders. The Franchise Focus Podcast series is brought to you by Underdog Fantasy (@UnderdogFantasy). New users can sign up to Underdog using promo code FANTASYPTS for up to $100 in bonus cash on their first deposit. Visit fantasypoints.com/underdog for more info. The podcast series is also sponsored by Evan's Sports Cards & Collectibles (@evanscards). Follow @EvansCards on Twitter for weekly updates and card releases, Like on Facebook, and head to evanssportsnj.com for more info, including the always-updated eBay store. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fantasy-points-podcast/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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from numbers to the film room with a single goal to help you score more fantasy points. Back to the franchise focus series of podcasts here at FantasyPoint.com. My name is Joe Dolan, and you guys know I've been getting all the best beat writers that I could possibly get for the franchise-focused series of podcasts. And, well, the Athletic gets the best beatwriters they can possibly get. You notice that I've had multiple athletic beatwriters on here. Well, today I have another one for the loss of Vegas Raiders. His name is Vic Tafer.

He covers the Raiders for the Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at Vic Tafer. That's V-I-C-T-A-F-U-R. He has given us 15, 20 minutes today to break down the Raiders. Vic, thank you so much for joining the podcast. It's really an honor to have you on. Yeah, man. My pleasure, man. How are you doing? I'm doing okay. I'm, I'm, the listeners are, I'm sure getting sick of me saying this,

but I'm getting over COVID. I felt like completely fine, but I lost my voice. It's like one of those, it's just one of those weird things. It's just like, I don't know. I never really had any symptoms other than I totally lost my voice, just very strange. But I'm battling through it, and you guys are, the beat writers are helping me through it as well. So I appreciate you being the star on today's show. You know the franchise focused, series of podcast is brought to you by Evans, sports cards, and collectibles. The best place for cards, collectibles, autographs, and more. All of our memorabilia giveaways that you've seen on our fantasy points, Twitter are from Evans.

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Tell them that the guys from FantasyPoint.com sent you. So we note Devante Adamsvick is arguably the best receiver in pro football, but from fantasy perspective, we liked the report he had with Aaron Rogers. Now we know he played with Derek Carr in college, but we're still a little bit concerned. The numbers are going to come down a little bit with the change. What have you seen from Devante Adams' OTAs, mini camps? What are you hearing about Devante Adams?

Where do you think he fits in on the target hierarchy here with the Raiders in his first season with the team? Yeah, it's all been very positive. I'm obviously very excited to have them. And Derek Carr is talking about getting him for years now, and no one believed him. We thought he was full of it. But here he is.

He got his old college teammate back. And I think the thing about, I understand the concern. Copsie Rogers and Adams had dynamic rapport. But I just think that if you look at Derek Hart's history, he's shown that if he has trust in another guy, he'll go to him if he's double covered, third down, there's three guys on him,

and the reds, like, look up. Think back to Michael Crabtree's big days of the Raiders, and he had that trust in the Crabtree. And no matter what, if any big play in the game, no matter who else he had, did Cooper on the other side of the field, but you always would lock in on his guy because of the total trust of where you put the ball,

where perhaps he would know what was going to be, and just in terms of, and I imagine that he has that with Adams, you know, tenfold. I think they still play catch these past off seasons. They, like, are so closely connected, you know, mentally. Adams mentioned how in practice, they don't know what each guy's thinking about

in terms of, you know, how the play breaks down and what the guy will do and what he'll go. So I just think that, just based on that, in the car's history that he's showing me, I think Adams numbers will be fine. I think it'll still be a top five guy in fantasy. I think it was still, despite Renfro coming up and Waller and other guys they have in this offense, I think Adams will have big members again.

So that actually leads me to a different question. When this team is in base personnel, obviously bearing the lead here, I mean, Josh McDaniels is the new head coach. And one of the things that I think is notable, not that, I mean, in the Gruden era, the Raiders had a fullback to, but coming over from the Patriots is Yaacob Johnson. So they are bringing over their fullback, obviously probably going to use a lot of two back sets. What do you think the base personnel will look like? Will Hunter Renfro still be in the slot a large amount of time?

And if that's the case, does that mean Darren Waller plays on the outside a little bit more? Yeah, I think definitely Darren Sonny can move around. So I think you'll see Renfro in the slot. You'll see Waller moving around. I think having those three guys, you know, Adams, Waller and Renfro, you have three guys who are going to be open off the line scrimand instantaneously at the same time. They're all three great right runners. They're all great line scrimmage. And Derek likes to get rid of the ball as fast as you can.

So you're going to have three options right away where they'll be a guy open when the ball's hikes. So I think, Jakub Johnson does bring them that physicality they want to be able to run the ball times. But I'm not sure it will affect too much what they're going to do as far as the offensive game plan. There'll be three, you know,

the three White House will be the primary guys in this offense. And you mentioned that Derek Carr having trust in somebody has been so important throughout his career. And we now know he has that with Hunter Renfro. I mean, Hunter Renfro called 100 passes last year. And we know how productive that slot role in the McDaniels offense can be. I mean, the number of guys you can just churn through who have put up numbers, even going back last year to Jacoby Myers in New England catching 88 passes, you know, Hunter Renfro, Vic, I don't know how in the weeds in fantasy you are, but he's basically like

a seventh or eighth round pick, which is preposterous for a guy who caught 100 passes last year. Do you see Hunter Renfro being able to thrive in this role, even with Adam still in town? Yeah, I was obviously skeptical too when they got him. I was wondering if that was going to affect Hunter's targets. But I went back and looked at us curious when the Patriots got Randy Moss, how it affected Edelman and their slot guys. Their numbers went up. I mean, I think there's less focus on them. There's less guys worried about them because you're worried about Adams and Waller.

So I think Renfork is great in space. So I think his numbers won't, I mean, he'll lose some targets. maybe he'll gain more in terms of being open more and having the last guys on I'm worried about him. I think last year for times when Waller was out of injury, he was the number one guy, the number one target. Teams knew that and he still got the ball. So I think this year, we'll less the focus on him because you have to.

He had to worry about Adams, to have to worry about Waller. I think that will definitely benefit him in also in terms of fantasy. What was up with Darren Waller? I mean, from a fantasy perspective, I mean, I was drafting him a ton last year. And he comes out in week one. And what did he have like 20 Tarant? in that game. And I was like, oh, my God, this is going to be an all-time season. And then the injury started pile up. It seemed like his role got a little bit reduced.

What happened to him and where's he at health-wise now? He's great right now. Last year, he had an ankle for a while. He got a knee. I think the thing about Darren Waller, people kind of sometimes forget is that he has this background where he overcame substance abuse and he overcame some chemical dependency. So I think his rehab into what he can do in terms of medication and drugs is not the same with other players. so they'll take him longer to come back from injuries. So I think those two injuries definitely play a part

and not having him to be the supposed to a guy who normally is. But so far, this office he's in great shape. He's definitely fired up. He wants, acutely for him is he wants a new contract. So it needs to have a big year in terms of numbers to either get that from the Raiders or from somewhere else if they have to move them. So I think he's definitely a team guy.

He won't talk about the contract. He's focused on winning. But in the back of his mind, he knows his agency, he brought on LeBron's agency now, are his guys so he knows he needs some numbers this year to get the pay day he wants going forward. Obviously, a contract year guy is Josh Jacobs. The Raiders didn't pick up his fifth year option. They drafted two running backs this year.

I mean, I think that's a signal to Josh Jacobs put up or shut up this year. Internally, what are you hearing about Josh Jacobs in his role this year in what is now all of a sudden a pretty deep backfield? Yeah, usually when I go on these fantasy-type shows before the year, I'm always having up Josh Jacobs. I think he's underrated in terms of his ability to catch the ball. He's a great talent as far as getting through the holes in the middle. And he can't break the long ones, but he'll get you those 20-yard runs throughout a game and crunch time. This year, I'm not, I'm off that soapbox. I think Josh Jacobs is a dangerous fantasy player.

I think they're going to share the load a lot. They got, no one of the guys you mentioned, Zimmer White's top pick they got in. They also brought Brandon Bolden, who was a guy from McDaniels, knows very well. He'll play some third downs. They have Kenyon Drake, who's a great receiver, who will line up outside times on third downs and be inside time. So I just think that it's going to be a committee approach. I think Josh Jacobs, when they bypass the fifth-year option,

that's a pretty big signal to me that he's not the guy for them. I think it wasn't a radius number. I think it was $8 million, I believe it was. So you can make the case. You know what? He's going to be a number one guy. Let's do that. We can figure out what we're going to do after that next year.

Let's give them money now and we'll have that going forward. But to me, it's a pretty clear message that, in a draft of you know, Temeer White in the fourth round, who if not for his injuries in college, probably win a higher draft pick. So they're very high on him. So I think it'll be a committee approach. And I would definitely not target Josh Jacobs earlier on in fairness to drafts. So you have obviously one of the more enviable jobs for a beat writer. You get to cover this like this insanely competitive division on paper maybe as competitive a division as we've ever seen. And we know the Raiders are loading up to compete in that division. But the one glaring

weakness I see on offenses, and this is not a surprise to you. The offensive line was not very good last year. The Mayock, Gruden, tear down, didn't seem to work the way they hoped it would. Is there a reason to be optimistic about this offensive line under McDaniels in ways that we weren't able to be optimistic last year? Probably not. I mean, I think at this point, you're kind of hoping and framed. I think obviously they have faith in their coaching staff they brought in there, Carmen

and Priscilla, the old line coach, and they got McLeombardi, him in the office coordinator and obviously McDaniel. So they've looked at this core they have. They decide to extend Baron Jacobs, Brandon Jacobs, Braden Parker, sorry. I don't know I got that for a Benon Jacobson. Brandon Parker's contract. He'll compete with

the Leatherwood at the right tackle spot. Massive question marks inside. They have some former Patriots, Germaine Elamine might be a factor in there, but otherwise, looking at John Simpson hasn't done much since you got Jeff Leder at one of the guard spots. I just think it's kind of right now, they've got a bunch of guys competing at different spots,

and hopefully the training camp, they'll have the five best guys will emerge and we'll get some chemistry. But at this point, they're betting on their coaching staff to kind of get the most of the other guys like Parker and Leatherwood. And if not, they have money now under the salary cap. They got some money back in last month where they can go out and get a veteran guy during training camp.

There are veteran tackles available who have played and started in the NFL. I'm pretty decent. So I think that's still a backup plan and still in place where if they don't see it from Weatherwood or Parker early on or one of these guards, they can go out and get someone during camp. And finally, to wrap it up, let's go to the signal caller. Let's go to Derek Carr. He signs the big contract.

I believe he signed it in April. Correct me if I'm wrong. But also, I believe it was reported that they can get out of that contract after this year and save a decent bit of money. Is that your read on the situation? And in a way, is this almost a proof of year for Derek Carr as well? They can. There's definitely a window after the Super Bowl they can get out of it. But my take on

it is it's a two-year deal. I think there's a two-year window for him and Dante Adams who's somebody to talk about their whole lives. So they have two years now to prove they can get the Raiders deep in the playoffs or not all the way. And if not, then this new regime of McDaniels, Dave Zillard will get another quarterback. So I think Derek knows that. He probably won't say it, but he really,

he reads him pretty well. I think he knows this is what he's wanted. He's wanted a team around him that's been talented. Offense should be or the top five in the league. So he's got two years now to really prove he can win with the Raiders. He's been in a long time. They haven't got over the hump. But he's got two years. If not, they're going to move on to someone else. Vic, I've been wrapping up all these podcasts and I've been packing so much information into just a short amount of time, which is fantastic. I think that's the way people like it. But I've been asking all the analysts and all the beatwriters,

a sleeper, maybe on offense, who might put up numbers, who might not be getting drafted high for fantasy, who you wouldn't be surprised to come out and be a pretty sizable offensive contributor for them. Who is that guy for the Raiders? I would say, I mean, I'm going to give you a hedge. I would say Mac Hollins think Matt Collins will have a pretty decent-sized role in this offense because of fourth receiver, but you can't draft Mac Collins. No, of course.

But then I'll go back to Zemir White. I think Zemir White will be a guy who will have a chance early on to be a part of his committee. And if he does well, if he can score, if he shows they can be a reliable scoring option in the red zone, he might just get to the lead of this pack before long. So he's the future guy. I think he'll be running back next year for sure. So if you wanted late in your draft to kind of hedge or take a shot

or a running back was upside, obviously, he's a mere white's your guy. Yeah, Dynasty players, be in on that because, you know, these days, yeah, he's a fourth round pick, but fourth round picks can come through at the running back position. Vic, as you well know. I mean, the Raiders spent a first on a running back and they're not giving him his final option.

So might as well try something else here. Vic, thank you so much for joining me. You could follow him on Twitter at Vic Tafer. His work is fantastic. So much information packed into a small amount of time. My name's Joe Dolan at FG underscore Dolan. You don't really need to know that. Vic was the star of the podcast.

Vic, you're the man. Thanks for coming on. I appreciate it. We'll be back later this week to talk some more franchise focus. We'll give you to the Chiefs tomorrow, the Jaguars after that, the Colts after that. There is so much more that we're bringing you at FantasyPoint.com. sure you check out the Las Vegas Raiders companion article to this podcast. It has been a fantastic time talking to Vic Tafer. It's been a fantastic time having you guys as listeners. Make sure you

tune in. Thanks, everybody. Talk to you later this year. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of the Fantasy Points Podcast. Remember to subscribe, rate, and review on your favorite platform. And come join the roster at FantasyPoints.com.