Fantasy Football Daily - Las Vegas Raiders with Marcus Johnson | 2023 Franchise Focus Podcast

Episode Date: July 6, 2023

The Raiders are a team with many questions heading into training camp, and Joe Dolan (@FG_Dolan) needs some help to parse through them. He welcomes in Marcus Johnson (@TheMarcJohnNFL) of the Tape Don't Lie podcast to get the scoop on Jimmy Garoppolo, Josh Jacobs, and more. Want to join a high-stakes dynasty league -- or any other high-stakes league? All new FFPC users get $25 off their first FFPC league of $35 or more, including dynasty orphans, using our affiliate link: ⁠https://myffpc.com/cms/public?affid=fantasypoints⁠ ⁠FANTASY POINTS PROJECTIONS ARE LIVE⁠ FOR ALL STANDARD AND PREMIUM SUBSCRIBERS! Interested in playing Best Ball in 2023? There's no better place than Underdog Fantasy. ⁠Use our code FANTASYPTS⁠ to sign up for a new account at Underdog, and not only will you get a 100% deposit match up to $100... but you'll get a Fantasy Points Standard subscription for only $5! ⁠https://www.fantasypoints.com/underdog --- 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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fantasy points.com and the Fantasy Points Podcast Network. We've entered the third week of recording these podcasts, and I've already made my way around the first three divisions in the AFC. We're going to be moving to the AFC West this week, talking Broncos, Chiefs, Raiders, and Chargers. I hope everybody's enjoyed the podcast thus far. I've had a lot of fun recording them. I'm learning something new each and every time I record. And really the only difficult thing about them is scheduling them because I'm doing 32 of them. but so many of my guests have been gracious.

All of them have been just providing the best information. And I hope you continue to subscribe, rate and review to the show, and enjoy the podcast. We're going to wrap up the AFC with the AFC West this week. I hope you enjoy. Without further ado, here's my next guest. Welcome back to the franchise focus podcast here at Fantasy Points.com. My name is Joe Dolan. And with me today is a Raiders expert who came very highly recommended from a Raiders fan, I know.

And let me tell you something, Marcus. I had to verify this when my friend told me, you got to listen to the Taped Don't Line podcast. I went and checked it out. Great work. And then I went to Reddit. And when Reddit likes you, you're really good because Reddit doesn't like anything. So I knew Marcus was legit.

He is Marcus Johnson. He is an NFL and Raiders contributor for Silver and Black Pride. And he is the co-host of the Tate Don't Live podcast, which has thousands of subscribers and listeners on YouTube. and, of course, wherever you get your podcast. You can find them on Twitter at the Mark John NFL. Marcus, thank you so much for joining me for the franchise-focused podcast. I'm excited to talk some Raiders.

Thank you. I appreciate you having me. So, Marcus, I got to be honest, I don't have a great grasp of what the Raiders are at this point. Josh McDaniels in his second head coaching job ditches the quote-unquote franchise quarterback. Well, at least he gave Derek Carr more time than he gave Jake Cutler in Denver. but he ditches Derek Carr. They bring in Jimmy Garoppolo. First and foremost, let's look at this from a big picture perspective.

What did you see offensively from Josh McDaniels in his first year as the Raiders head coach, maybe from a play calling and play design perspective? So, you know, what I saw was kind of somebody that, you know, still has kind of like an old, older offense that's kind of like maxed out in 2017. So there's a lot of things that they were doing in 2017 that were just terrific. articles about it, all these things that he was doing last decade. I think when you go six years from now, we're still seeing some of those same plays. And I think a lot of the NFL teams have kind of caught on to what he's doing.

So you'll see like some guys in coverage running the routes for the teams or knowing the calls. I mean, when they play the Patriots, I mean, of course, the Patriots, they were all over it because the plays and saying Kyle Dugger's jumping stuff and he's picking things off. So I think Josh Bredales has to find ways to be more creative in his actual scheme, whether that is lining guys up in different. areas. If that's running the same things and going to like different trips or even adding some quads packages into what he needs to do, he needs to get more creative and get more

updated to what the game is because, you know, there's a lot of college things are coming into the NFL. You watch the Dolphins, they're doing a lot of college stuff over there. I mean, Andy Reed, of course, he's been doing college stuff for it. Who knows how long he's been stealing high school football, college football. And I think that that's what Josh McDaniels used to do. He kind

has his offense that he loves and he loves to run and he knows he works it. And, you know, Brady really was kind of the guy for that offense too. And, you know, he thinks that, you know, Jimmy Garapolo can come in and start running it again. But I think that's a little bit of it. I think it's a little bit of it's just a little bit of, I said it wasn't fully vanilla, as a little bit of vanilla extract because it was not like a full vanilla offense because there's still some creativity to it. But it's just not a lot of creativity to it.

So teams can catch on. And then later on in the season, it was a little harder for them to move the ball than it was like mid-year or like even later on in the game when he, you know, he had to start making his play calls because he was a good. great first 15 guy first 15 he's terrific he'd catch teams off guard he's the four and under his game was a big a big sign of that but i think that's that's his issue going forward but i still think he's a pretty good play caller he's maybe not the greatest play caller probably not in the kyle shenahan type of level but he's still a good play caller do you think derrick car was a fair scapegoat for what happened last year uh i think it was a little bit of mixture of a couple of things i don't think derrick

car played well last year i think he definitely had a disappointing year definitely had trouble catching on to the offense or maybe he had a huge disconnect between him and Joshua Daniels about what he wanted to, how he wanted to run the offense and how Josh McDaniels wanted him to run his offense. And I think that's a little bit why Jimmy Grappolo's in here because Jimmy Gropolo's going to run at the way that Josh McDaniels wants to run. So I think Carr did not play very well last year. Definitely coming off of 2021 and 2020 and 2019, we had a pretty good run of being a real consistent quarterback. You know what you're going to get, you know, you're going to get some efficient plays, high completion percentage, all that good stuff. last year we saw that to completely tank a little bit.

A lot of it's, you know, him, you know, a little bit of the offensive line to a little bit. The offense line was up and down. They did get better as the year went along running, rushing football, but they still weren't never that good as a pass protection type of setup. But I think, you know, Carr just him and Dan was just running the same page. So it really affected his play. He used to anticipate a lot more in 2021 and 2020 and finally started to see him doing that. Then he kind of went back in 2022 where he wasn't doing that.

So we saw a little bit of a disconnect that way with him. but it was a little bit on Derek. I mean, it also was, the whole team just wasn't as good, and they're all disappointing, in my opinion. A lot of the injuries too affected the team, but Carr didn't play well either, and that's why he ended up getting shipped out. What's going on with Jimmy Garoppolo?

I mean, Josh McDaniels wants him to come in and run this offense, but he's got to actually be on the field in order to do that. What's up with his foot? Do we even now have any clue if he's going to be ready for training camp at this point? They say he's going to be ready for training camp. I don't know how well he's, how much he's going to be participating in training camp or how much he's going to be active in practice when they do, like let's say they do those, the practice where the two teams play against each other, is he going to participate in that or they get to feel okay with him going through practice and running those things? Is he could be full speed? We don't know that.

And, you know, if he has another mix up with it, I mean, say he's on track to come back for training camp. I mean, that's kind of a little bit of rumor, but everything's really quiet on that. So it's going to be interesting to see how that goes forward. but they kind of, they knew about it when they read the contract regardless. And that was who they felt like they didn't draft anybody behind him. They went with Brian Warrior behind him who, Brian Warrior played like a series last year and got hurt. So he started to game again as Bailey Zappi came in.

So, you know, it's going to be interesting to see what they do with Jimmy Grappolo. Hopefully he's healthy. But, you know, even if he is healthy, like what I was saying is how well is he going to play on that ankle if it's not, it's going to be healed, but how confidence is he going to be is thinking about it when he's, when he's playing early on in the season. You know, a lot of things happen with guys with injuries. You know, they're saying the same thing about Collar Murray.

I mean, Collar Murray is probably going to be ready. But, you know, everybody's talking about his injury. I think Jimaprappalo has the same type of situation where is he going to be, he might be ready to go. But is he going to really be ready to go? And that's kind of what I'm worried about. And, you know, that's kind of, you know, it kind of hurts the outlook for the Raiders offensively a little bit. I mean, everything's kind of hurting the outlook for the Raiders offensively. Because as we're recording this and Marcus, obviously, I'm scheduling 32 of these.

I got to build up a backlog to make sure that I'm ahead of. of I'm ahead of the curve. But as we're scheduling this, as a matter of fact, today, which would be last week for those of you listening to this, Tom Pelliserra reports Josh Jacobs, who is the Raiders franchise player, doesn't plan or there's a good chance. He doesn't report to training camp unless there's progress on a long-term deal. We know how the running back position is valued right now. There's a similar situation going down with Sequan Barkley with the New York Giants. But Josh Jacobs was the Raiders best offensive player last year. He was the guy who really made things go for them.

What's your read on the situation with Josh Jacobs? And is there a chance this holdout extends into the season? Yeah, I think there's a chance to hold it holds out. The extension, it goes into the season, I think. I think there's a situation where that could happen because I think Josh Jacobs was a little bit disrespected last year. You know, they drafted two running backs. They played him in the preseason.

And then he ended up being the best player in offense, right? And he kind of leading the offense, them depending on him, him having 340 carries. and I think Josh kind of feels the type of way about all of this, them franchise tagging him, them not paying him, and then expecting him to come in and take the load over again. Because, you know, when you have Jimmy Garapola as a quarterback, he's never thrown the ball more than 500 times in a season, right? And even if you go to Brian Hoyer or you go to Aidan O'Connell,

you're going to have to run the football. And Josh Jacobs is one of the top five running back in the NFL, definitely showed he can, you know, be a three-downback, more receptions last year, definitely showed that he could do a lot from, you know, from the, you know, know, scrimmage arts and all that stuff. So, you know, he's going to be a big factor, but I think Josh Jacobs, he just feels disrespected a little bit by these guys.

And I think he's going to make a point that way. So I think they've got to try to figure this out. They're not even talking, which is the big problem for me. You know, Sequan Barkley, you know, in that Tom Pellasero, we're talking about they're having conversations, at least. The Raiders aren't talking at all. So it's going to be interesting to see how that goes, but the Raiders need him. You know, Zemir White and Britton Brown are behind them.

I do like Britton Brown. And I think he's somebody he could probably be effective. back in the league just because, you know, this way he runs the ball. He's really slow guy. He's not really a, you know, break up 50-yard run or anything like that. But he would probably, you know, in my opinion, be probably a little bit better than Zemir White. But, you know, either way, they need Josh Jacobs to make this offense run because they're not going to be able to pass the ball, in my opinion, if they can't run the ball. So it's going to be a struggle for them if they can't figure out some out with Josh Jacobs. You know, I actually think it's really interesting.

You mentioned Britt and Brown because he was the second of the two running back. Zemir White obviously was a big time recruit, got hurt at Georgia. But I mean, you're right. Look at the rest of this depth chart behind Josh Jacobs. Amir Abdullah, Brandon Bolden. How many running backs are there in the NFL who are 30 or more in the Raiders have two of them? I mean, like it's not a big, it's not a really long list right now. Yeah.

Yeah, it's not. And the, you know, for the outlook for them from the running back room, you know, if Zemir White, they traded up to get him. And I really feel like Zemir White was supposed to be the guy this year. Like when they traded up for Zemir White, Zemir White was supposed to be the guy. and Josh Jacobs was supposed to move on, right? But Josh Jake, they're not, Zamir White's not ready.

So they had the franchise tag Josh Jacobs. And that's why Josh Jacobs is like, okay, if you guys need me so much, you guys need to pay me. And I think they're doing that type of situation because if Zemir White and one of his press conferences, who is the offensive coordinator for the Raiders, and one of his press conferences talk about, because talking about Zemir White and Britain Brown, how they're not really that ready yet still, right? They don't feel too comfortable and they got to get ready in pass protection. They got to get better in all these things. So, you know, they really need Josh Jacobs because, you know, Zemir White, I think he had his chance last year.

And I think when he got his chance, he didn't really make the most of it. He had about 17 carries last year. It was about 4.1 yards per carry, but most of it was he had a couple long runs in there mixed in there. But a lot of it was kind of him just running to the line. So, you know, that's why, you know, I think there's a better, to me, there's a better upside with Britton Brown. Because I think Britton Brown can make guys miss and create a little bit by himself. But, you know, if Josh Jacobs isn't ready, man, I think it's going to be a struggle regardless running the football. At least Derek Carr got the ball to Devante Adams. He had 100 catches last

year. He had 14 touchdowns. Devante Adams is Devante Adams. I feel like you and I can maybe get the ball to him at some point. But is there a concern, at least from a fantasy standpoint, you play fantasy, that Jimmy Garoppel might not be as effective in getting the ball to Devante Adams as Derek Carr was. Yeah, I think it goes two ways just for fantasy. I think the touchdowns, I think they might still have a chance to be there because I think he's still a red zone monster, right? He's been a red zone. on Monster's whole career. I think they had a little bit of issue last year with the Red Zone. But, you know, for his career, you know, Devonte Adams has been a red zone monster. Bubble to get touchdowns in the last seven seasons.

Yeah. Yeah. So I think touchdown-wise, I think he's going to be fine. I think he's still going to find a way to score a lot of touchdowns. I think he's going to get a lot of catches. I just don't think the yards are going to be there as much because I think that Jimmy Grappel doesn't throw down field. And I know Devante Adams is a yak guy. He can do yak and all that stuff. But he's no Devo Samuel with the yak. I mean, he's still a good yak guy. He can make a lot of guys missing open field and make some plays with the ball on his hand. But he's not going to make three guys miss and then run 70 yards or take a screen and take it 70 yards for a screen, right? So I think there's still mixing a lot of short passes, though, with him. I think that he's going to get a lot of catches and maybe a lot of looks that way.

But the explosive plays that him and Carr had last year, I think this could be eliminated a lot. Because a lot of his touchdowns were 25 yards plus and a lot of those explosive plays. And some people in fantasy and some of their leagues, they have those 20. plus bonuses and you're not you might you're probably not getting that from devante adams this year and i still think you might have a lot of catches though uh and we probably a little bit more efficient but i don't think the yards is going to be there as much so i think there's a little bit lower fantasy outlook for him but i think i still think he's going to have at least 10 touchdowns so let's play it straight here josh mcdaniels comes over to the uh the Vegas raiders

okay they have a a young man who is coming off a 103 catch thousand yard nine touchdown season in Josh McDaniel's first season. He just so happens, Marcus, let's just call it like it is, to be a small white slot receiver. And what is Josh McDaniels always loved, small white slot receivers dating back to his time at the Patriots. What the hell happened with Hunter Renfro last year, even besides the injuries? I think one thing from 2021 to 2022, I think Hunter Renfro had to change his routes. I think Josh McDaniels made him change his routes a lot. I covered this a little bit on my TDL show the last time. You know, Hunter Renfro was, you know, kind of just doing his own thing,

kind of making up his own kind of routes out there. And Josh McDaniels kind of like kind of basically said, no, you're not going to do that anymore. You're going to run routes how I want you to run routes. And I think Renfro had a little bit of an adjustment. I think he got a little bit better as a year went along, trying to figure out how he could still be himself and do what exactly what Josh McDaniels does.

But I think it had a little bit of effect on him. But I think year two going into it, I think he's going to have a better idea of what they want. I think he's going to be able to work that slot a little bit more. Because I think that's a really big part of this offense, especially with Jimmy Garapolo. You're going to have to have that short passing guy. I think Hunter Renfro can be that.

That's why I think he's going to have a lot more catches this year and be a lot more effective just in a short passing game. He's going to get a lot more looks that way. You know, they love that hot seat juke. And when he was in the game, they really love running that play. So I think they're going to see a lot more of that, especially working out with Jimmy Garapolo. And I think you're going to see a lot more of that,

I think you can see a better year from Hunter Renfro if he stays healthy. But I think that was the biggest thing last year. He was just adjusting to how they wanted him to play slot. So they spent big money on, or relatively big money, on Jacobi Myers, bringing him in free agency. Jacobi Myers now, the markets for fantasy are drafting Jacobi Myers well ahead of where they're drafting Hunter Renfro right now. Do you think that's fair?

I think it's interesting that, because I still feel like Hunter Renfro is going to have a bigger year than Jacoby Myers will. Just because of Jimmy Garapolo, the way that they're going to play offense, I think they're going to play inside out. And, you know, I know Jacoby Myers is probably to get in there a little bit. And maybe he might score more touchdowns. It might be more effective in the red zone. Maybe even though I think Hunter Renfro is really great in the red zone.

And I really feel like they should use him more there because I think he can, he can win one-on-ones. And they could do a lot of those things they did with Brandon Cooks and they did with Julian Edelman. They could run those routes with Hunter Renfro in the red zone. And, you know, some of those kind of whip routes where he's going in and out. They could do those things with him. So that's why I think that, you know, Hunter Mufo is going to have a little bit better year

because I think Jacoby Myers is going to play more outside this year than he ever has before because they don't have a guy like Mac Hollins and Jacoby Myers can block. And that's really what he's going to replace is Mac Hollins and my first down doing a lot of blocking and things like that. So, you know, just I know the buzz probably is like, you know, McDaniels, Myers. He's going to have a lot more outlook, right? But I think Myers is going to, you know, he's going to be playing a lot more outside. And I think he's not going to be as effective there, in my opinion, unless they find different ways to move these guys around inside, which is a possibility. But I still think Hunter Renfer might have a better outlook going forward, in my opinion.

I think the general consensus among all a draft Twitter, all of the draft community on television, Daniel Jeremiah et al. When the Raiders selected Trey Tucker in the third round before his team, teammate Tyler Scott came off the board. I don't know how big a draft nut you are before the draft, but what was kind of your reaction to that pick? And what did the Raiders say to kind of make sense of that pick. Yeah, I was shocked by that. I mean, I knew they were going to pick a slot guy because I just know what Hunter Renfro in his contract coming up. They're going to try to find another slot guy that can come fit in right after, you know, they might get read a Hunter Renfro at this year. So I kind of figured they were going to pick a slot guy. I said it was going to be Trey Tucker,

just because Trey Tucker, you know, he has a little bit of issues with separating, in my opinion, from the slot, but he's a tough guy, great hands. And, you know, he's willing to go in there and block and do a lot of those tough things. He's really competitive player, you know, returns kicks, did a lot of things that maybe the Raiders saw him as kind of that locker room guy they love. And I think that's why they ended up picking him because I think, you know, the outlook for him and other slot receivers that were out there, I think there was a lot better future, in my opinion, than Trey Tucker, but I think there's some elements there because he has great hands and he's a tough

guy over the middle. That's something that they really like, but I was shocked by it. It was kind of more of a luxury pick, but, you know, I kind of had a feeling that would go that route, but it just wasn't the guy that I thought it was going to be for sure. You know, the offensive line last year for the Raiders, you know, according to football outsiders metrics, incredible run blocking, but the Raiders didn't do really, I mean, I don't think they did anything this offseason. I admit that they brought in Greg Van Roten from Buffalo, but they didn't sign him and say, until May? Is there a reason to be concerned there with the offensive line? Is it set?

Do you think it should be set? I think it's a concern with pass protection. You know, run blocking. I think they're fine. I think they'll be okay. Run blocking, running the ball. I still think Josh Jacobs made him a little bit better of a run blocking line. And when they messed up, Josh Jacobs made him look really good. But I think past protection, I think there's still a struggle. I think they still struggled last year of past protection. And that's my biggest worry with Jimmy Garapolo because he's not very great under pressure. And, you know, either was Derek Carr, but Derek Carr's a little bit better than him. And you kind of saw Derek Carr have some trouble with the pressure that they were having

that he was under a lot last year. And I think that's going to maybe trickle in if they, since they didn't upgrade the offensive line, unless like Dylan Parham takes the next step, which is a very big possibility. He might take that next step. You know, Germana and Luminore played pretty well last year. It's just more like Andre James and Alex Barr's. Those two guys are pretty bad starters last year, especially Alex Barre. He's probably one of the worst guards in football last season. So just in pass protection, I think they have some issues there. I think running the football, they'll be fine.

They'll be pretty good running the ball as that. But this is a passing league. So, I mean, if you get to third down and, you know, teams are stunning and blitzing, you know, it's in, you know, Jimmy Garapolo's under pressure. You know, you might have seen Brian Hoyer earlier than you think. So that's a little bit where I'm worried about with the past protection. They didn't upgrade it at all. Marcus, I've been closing out all these franchise-focused podcast by asking my guest,

an underrated player on offense who might be able to contribute offensively. And I think yours comes from the position we haven't actually discussed yet, the tight end position for the Raiders. They made a pretty important draft pick there, and you think he's got a chance to produce statistically. Yeah, I think Michael Mayor is going to come in and start day one. I think he's going to be the starter week one when they come in, they start playing football, just going through the preseason and what type of player

and how high they were and what he can do. He can block and he can run routes. And I think that's something that they didn't like from Darren Waller. They didn't like Darren Waller that he wasn't a great blocker. He could just run routes. So it kind of put them in a tough position where they can't have him on the field all the time. I think Michael Mayer is the total opposite. They feel like they can have him on the field all the time.

They can mix some of some tight ends, do some 12 personnel, maybe do some 13 personnel with O.J. Howard and Austin Hooper. You know, I still think Austin Hooper might beat the odd man out because I think O.J. Howard blocks a lot better than him. And they kind of like that. And just in case they couldn't get a tight end, they're going to have a Y, like Austin Hooper, right? But a slot Y or outside Y, basically. But with, Darren, with Michael Mayor, Michael Mayer, he could do both.

And I think they really like him. And I think he's going to be a really effective guy. He's going to be a lot on the play action, get a lot more catches than I think. And I think he's going to have a surprise fantasy outlook, in my opinion, just because of the way they're going to use him and how high they are on him. I think there are very few teams in the NFL that have more up in the air heading into training camp than the Las Vegas Raiders.

So what you need to do, if you want to be up on the Raiders, is subscribe to the Tate Don't Live podcast and go and read Silver and Black Pride and follow Marcus on Twitter at the Mark John NFL. He is Marcus Johnson. This was my first ever discussion with him. I am coming away incredibly impressed. I had a great time. Marcus, you were fantastic.

Thank you so much. Thank you, man. I appreciate you having me on. I'm a fan of fancy point, so I'm really excited to come on. Well, I appreciate the plug. Make sure you give me your email so I can hook you up with a free subscription. Thanks, everybody, for listening to this edition of the Franchise Focus podcast. We'll be wrapping up the AFC West with a podcast on the Los Angeles Chargers very shortly.

Thanks, everybody, and have a great one. 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 Fantasy Points. com.