Fantasy Football Weekly: Raiders Give Hope for a Rivers Revival
Fantasy Football Weekly: Raiders Give Hope for a Rivers Revival
(Bloomberg) -- For most of us, the fantasy season is over. Those fortunate enough to still be playing in their league are competing for a championship. Hopefully last week’s recommendations of Kenyan Drake and Breshad Perriman pushed you over the top -- they combined for seven touchdowns.
This week, let’s highlight one veteran quarterback who’s had a very disappointing season: 38 year-old Philip Rivers. His stats don’t look good so far this season, with 21 touchdown passes and 18 interceptions. But the Chargers’ quarterback has thrown for more than 300 yards eight times this season and he goes up against the woeful Raiders’ secondary. Oakland is sixth worst in the league against the pass and has given up 32 touchdown passes, the third most in the NFL. So for those playing in leagues, especially with two quarterbacks, Rivers is a solid match-up play along with his top wideout Keenan Allen.
Before we get to our full list of selections, here’s a recap of last week’s plays. A reminder: We look for value picks, not the obvious FAANG stocks of fantasy, like Lamar Jackson and Christian McCaffrey. The picks are based on a points per reception league.
Bulls
Kenyan Drake: 137 yards rushing, 4 TDs
Breshad Perriman: 5 catches, 113 yards receiving, 3 TDs
Terry McLaurin: 5 catches, 130 yards, 1 TD
Ryan Fitzpatrick: 279 yards passing, 33 yards rushing, 2 TDs
Bears
David Blough: 260 yards passing
Jarvis Landry: 5 catches, 23 yards
Dede Westbrook: 2 catches, 14 yards
Jack Doyle: 2 catches, 21 yards
Low Volatility
Baker Mayfield: 247 yards passing, 11 yards rushing, 2 TDs, 1 INT
Raheem Mostert: 54 yards rushing, 1 TD
Mike Gesicki: 4 catches, 47 yards
Week 16 Value Picks
QB: Philip Rivers: As mentioned above, watch for the Chargers quarterback to air it out against the weak Raiders’ pass defense.
QB: Ryan Fitzpatrick: The Dolphins have no running game so look for Fitzpatrick to throw a ton against the Bengals.
QB: Drew Lock: The Broncos’ quarterback gets the Lions, the second worst pass defense in the NFL.
RB: Devonta Freeman: The Falcons host the Jaguars, owners of the fourth worst defense against the run this season.
RB: Marlon Mack: Looking for the Colts to try to ground and pound the Panthers.
WR: Will Fuller: This could be the highest scoring game of the week. The Houston wide receiver could have a nice game against the porous Bucs secondary.
WR: Courtland Sutton: The Broncos’ top wide receiver gets to face the Lions’ secondary.
WR: Darius Slayton: The Giants’ rookie continues his impressive rookie season against Washington.
TE: Hunter Henry: As mentioned above, I like his quarterback Philip Rivers.
TE: Jacob Hollister: Tight ends have feasted on Arizona.
TE: Cameron Brate: The Buccaneers are without receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. That should mean more targets for Brate.
To contact the reporter on this story: Richard Trueman in New York at rtrueman@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Matthew G. Miller at mmiller144@bloomberg.net, Brandon Kochkodin
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