Getty Gallery: 3/5
Optimal Lineup
– Captain: Jalen Richard ($6,600)
– Phillip Lindsay ($12,200)
– Derek Carr ($10,000)
– Jared Cook ($9,800)
– DaeSean Hamilton ($8,000)
– Seth Roberts ($2,800)
There are so many ways to build lineups on this slate, surprisingly. DraftKings has offered pricing that also allows you to get a bit creative, especially if willing to take a bit of a risk and pay down at captain. I'll do that here with Jalen Richard in that spot and I believe he has the right balance of safety and upside to outweigh the risk.
While the Raiders will likely split the workload here, as Richard played 51 percent of the offensive snaps last game, which was more than the 46 percent of Martin, per Football Outsiders. Although Richard has received 18 carries in the past three games, his real value comes as a pass-catcher.
Dating back to the opener, Richard has received four or more targets in all but two games and is coming off a five catch, 67-yard showing against the Cincinnati Bengals. I'm big on his value here and think pairing him with Derek Carr and Jared Cook makes a lot of sense.
I'll almost certainly use Cook a lot on this slate. As previously mentioned, the Broncos have shown little ability to hold tight ends in check by giving up 68 receptions for over 1,000 yards. Cook is going to be angry about that Pro Bowl snub and will make his presence felt early and often here.
One final name I want to mention on the Raiders side (I'll cover more as we roll on) is Seth Roberts. The Raiders are dealing with a massive amount of injuries at wide receiver, and Roberts is someone Carr has shown a lot of confidence in. A price tag of $2,800 is just far too low for a player who's received 27 targets in the last five games.
It's often overlooked, but Roberts has the ability to find the end zone and has proven that in recent years. With an injury-plagued Broncos secondary, I think Roberts destroys value here, putting him in play across the board.
Phillip Lindsay
I'll talk about the Broncos more as the lineups roll on, but Phillip Lindsay is a name I need to highlight. At a price of $12,200 and coming off a rare poor showing for him, there's a chance his ownership drops down a bit. This is a steep price for any player, but there are a lot of intriguing players around his same price.
With that said, the Raiders have been bad against opposing backs on the year as a whole. They've given up 1,734 rushing yards, 503 receiving yards and 15 total touchdowns. This is an excellent spot for Lindsay to thrive, and I do like him quite a bit, but the price makes it interesting.
I'll get into the 150-max lineup next, which offers a mixture of high upside plays and some risk as well.