The Oakland Raiders are coming into Week 6 with Derek Carr as the starter over Matt Schaub at quarterback and that is good news for fantasy football owners, as James Jones, Darren McFadden, Kenbrell Thompkins and Maurice Jones-Drew all could be helped along by Carr getting back into the starting lineup after dealing with an injury and Tony Sparano has a tough test with the Chargers on the schedule.
The Raiders are coming into the week after a bye and a little bit of drama, as they now have a new head coach after firing Dennis Allen. The team was a mess in the loss to the Dolphins in London and Carr was injured in that game, but he appears to have healed up enough to start on Sunday this week. According to ESPN.com, Carr was limited in practice this week with ankle and knee injuries, but he looks like he will be starting the game on Sunday anyway. Coach Tony Sparano said that he is progressing and has been getting better each day and that is good news for the Raiders.
While Carr is unproven and inexperienced, he has the most talent of the QBs on the roster and that is why he is playing. The trade for Matt Schaub has ended up a disaster so far and now James Jones, Darren McFadden and the rest of the offense will look to get going. The Chargers are a tough opponent and it will be tough for the Raiders to get their first win of the season against that team. The Raiders added Thompkins after he was cut by the Patriots and now he could slide into the rotation and could be a sleeper pickup for fantasy owners.
McFadden is the better option for fantasy owners this week and while the Chargers are a tough matchup, he is a much better starter option over Maurice Jones-Drew. Drew was signed in the offseason to be the backup and the Raiders expected him to contribute, but he has been dealing with injuries and so far has not done much fantasy wise. Drew could turn it around, but right now McFadden is the better option. McFadden has not yet missed a game this season and that is huge for him after missing six and four games over the past two seasons.
McFadden has 151 yards rushing this season in four games so he has not done much either, but he will be getting the starter carries moving forward. Back in 2010 McFadden had a great season with 1157 yards and 47 receptions and the Raiders have been hoping he could do that again. Among the wideouts it could be a good idea for desperate teams to look at Thompkins, but Jones has been the best receiver so far for the Raiders.
This season Jones has 21 catches for 272 yards and he comes in after putting up two touchdowns in four games. Jones will be the most targeted player moving forward most likely and both him and Mychal Rivera have the highest upsides for the Raiders this season. Jones had 14 Tds two years ago with Aaron Rodgers and he has shown this season that he can be a strong receiver. Jones had nine catches for 112 yards in Week 2 and fantasy owners are looking for a game like that again.
