Tag: Oakland Raiders

DFS Fantasy Football: Favorite Pro Plays – Week 3

WinDailySports’ CEO Jason Mezrahi checks in with his top Week 3 DFS fantasy football for FanDuel and DraftKings

Top-ranked daily fantasy sports pro Jason Mezrahi, founder and CEO of WinDailySports.com, breaks down his favorite DFS plays at various salary ranges for Week 3 of the NFL season.

Even though we have had great results in picking top DFS plays in this article every week, I’m going to let you in on a little secret: Our projection model at WinDailySports.com has been firing on all cylinders for the first two weeks so what I will do in this article is list our highest projected player based off raw points and our highest point per dollar play based on DraftKings.com pricing.

These are some of the players Jason will be locking in his lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel for this weekend’s slate.

QUARTERBACKS

KYLER MURRAY, ARI

$6,800 DRAFTKINGS, $8,400 FANDUEL

In the case of QB Kyler Murray, who has the top spot on the board, is looking like the 2020 version of 2019 Lamar Jackson.

Over the first two games, he has averaged 30.2 DraftKings points and already has three rushing touchdowns. The rushing floor and upside he provides in a plus matchup versus a weak Lions defense has him ahead of a stacked QB position so lock him in as both your cash QB and GPP play of the week.

MITCHELL TRUBISKY, CHI

$5,700 DRAFTKINGS, $7,500 FANDUEL

Mitchell “The Truth” Trubisky (I can’t even type this with a straight face) is coming in on our model as the best point-per-dollar quarterback in the Week 3 DraftKings main slate.

  1. Is he a top 10 Quarterback? No
  2. Is he an elite Quarterback? No
  3. Did I think he was going to be the starting Quarterback to start the season? No
  4. Does he have one of the best matchups on the board? Yes
  5. Am I playing him at $5,700 in Week 3? Yes

The Atlanta Falcons defense is one of the worst I have ever seen. The only thing that can make this defense worse is if Jameis Winston was the quarterback of the offense.

The story line won’t change and every week for the near future you will see me targeting offensive players versus the Atlanta Falcons and the Carolina Panthers no matter who the opposing team is. For that reason I feel confident in locking in Trubisky on DraftKings.

RUNNING BACKS

DERRICK HENRY, TEN

$7,800 DRAFTKINGS, $8,200 FANDUEL

After a somewhat disappointing Week 2, both DraftKings and FanDuel lowered Henry’s prices by $100. I truly appreciate the discount and due to the fact he burned a lot of people last week, he will come in at lower ownership. There is nothing better than playing an elite player once everyone else jumped off the bandwagon after one bad week.

Derrick Henry is still one of the best running backs in the league and this matchup versus the Vikings is ideal. The touches and talent are there and in Week 3 the yardage and touchdowns will follow.

MILES SANDERS, PHI

$6,400 DRAFTKINGS, $7,400 FANDUEL

It is time to price enforce an error in the pricing model of both sites. This matchup is too juicy, and Miles Sanders is too talented not to exploit it. We recently saw what the combination of Chubb and Hunt destroy Cincinnati and I expect a repeat showing by Miles in Week 3.

Sanders had a good start to his season in Week 2 in a tougher matchup versus the Rams. He is coming in as the best value on the board at running back in Week 3, so lock him into both cash games and tournaments.

WIDE RECEIVERS

DEANDRE HOPKINS, ARI

$7,900 DRAFTKINGS, $8,500 FANDUEL

I will admit when I’m wrong. I was off of DeAndre Hopkins in season long due to the fact that the receiving core is a crowded space in Arizona and I thought there would be a negative effect due to a shortened off season. I was wrong, Kyler Murray has progressed to another level and the rapport he built already with Hopkins is elite.

I love the stack of Murray to Hopkins in a dream matchup versus the Lions. Hopkins may be highly owned in Week 3 but he is coming in with the highest ceiling and raw projection. He should be as safe as it gets for your cash games at wide receiver.

ALLEN ROBINSON, CHI

$6,200 DRAFTKINGS, $6,900 FANDUEL

After back to back disappointing weeks, I hope the ownership stays low on Robinson in Week 3. He is currently popping as our best point per dollar play and a nice value stack paired with Trubisky.

I will repeat it once more the Atlanta Falcons are terrible on defense.

They couldn’t punch their way out of a wet paper bag and they won’t be able to stop the second-tier combination of Trubisky and Robinson at a discounted rate. Ride the value that Robinson provides and take advantage of lower ownership due to all the boxscore watchers avoiding him.

TIGHT ENDS

ZACH ERTZ, LAC

$5,100 DRAFTKINGS, $6,200 FANDUEL

The Eagles are once again down to scraps at the receiver position and all hope will be on their tight ends. I had a tough decision on which tight end to choose from because both Ertz and Goedert have been producing, and are in identical spots.

I will be leaning on the pedigree of Ertz, but will have shares of both tight ends and I believe you should do the same. I would not be surprised to see both tight ends find their way into the end zone and for tournaments running a stack with both is not out of the question.

DARREN WALLER, OAK

$5,700 DRAFTKINGS, $6,600 FANDUEL

A lot of the fantasy industry didn’t buy into the hype of Darren Waller coming into this season. I think that all changed after his recent performance Monday night.

Waller is one of the fastest tight ends in the league and he is the number one target in this offense. He received 8 targets in Week 1 and 16 in Week 2. If we fall in the middle in Week 3, you best believe Waller will smash again. Derek Carr and this offense looked impressive and on the other end this is not the same Patriots defense from last year. Waller is the way to go if you have the salary to pay up at tight end this week.

DEFENSES

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS

$3,600 DRAFTKINGS, $5,000 FANDUEL

They come in as the top defense due to the simple fact that the Panthers have struggled to get anything going on offense and now they are without their best weapon in Christian McCaffrey. This Charger defense did a great job against the most explosive offense in the league so I can only imagine what they do to this Carolina team. I wouldn’t be shocked to see them keep the Panthers under 10 points in this game.

LAS VEGAS RAIDERS

$2,300 DRAFTKINGS, $3,000 FANDUEL

With defense being one of the toughest positions to predict, I love finding an extreme value defense each week for tournaments. This Raiders team is legit and just stifled Drew Brees and the Saints; I am not fully bought into the Patriots offense. They are lacking a true running game and Cam Newton can only do so much. If you stop Cam this entire offense stalls. Give me Gruden and the Raiders at an extreme value in Week 3.

Jason Mezrahi has been a professional, top-ranked Daily Fantasy Player on FanDuel and DraftKings for more than eight years. He has won FanDuel’s $155,555 King of the Diamond competition and placed second in DraftKings’ Fantasy Basketball World Championship, earning him $300,000. He owns and operates WinDailySports.com, which supports the DFS and Sports Betting community with resources such as tools, projection models, expert chat, in-depth written analysis and podcasts, plus much more.

[lawrence-newsletter]

Former Badger FB Alec Ingold makes Las Vegas Raiders history

The former Badger made a historic grab yesterday

Monday Night Football in Las Vegas. Something that was unheard of until last night. History was made on the opening kickoff as NFL football officially landed in sin city.

The Las Vegas Raiders met the New Orleans Saints in front of empty stands at brand new Allegiant Stadium. The first touchdown in Las Vegas for the Raiders? That trivia answer will forever belong to former Wisconsin fullback Alec Ingold.

The second-year pro broke free on 1st-and-goal in the second quarter to catch just the second touchdown of his NFL career.

More important for Ingold and the Raiders is that they came away with a 34-24 upset win over the Saints to improve to 2-0 on the young season. If you like old school, physical football, this Raider team is for you.

Raiders coach Jon Gruden is keeping the fullback position alive and well in the NFL, and FBU at Wisconsin loves to see it.

Gallery: DE Yannick Ngakoue In 2019

The top photos of new Vikings defensive end Yannick Ngakoue from the 2019 season.

[sigallery id=”b5rcjNfswKjT5Td5EXpeDK” title=”Gallery: DE Yannick Ngakoue In 2019″ type=”sigallery”]

Josh Jacobs discusses his rookie season, what he learned

Former Alabama running back josh Jacobs discusses what he learned from his rookie season and what he hopes to accomplish in year No. 2.

Former Alabama running back Josh Jacobs was relatively quiet during his time with the Crimson Tide. As he heads into his second season in the NFL, Jacobs has big goals for himself and plenty of lessons learned from his rookie season with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Having shared the Alabama backfield with Bo Scarbrough, Damien Harris and Najee Harris, among others, it was difficult for Jacobs to shine. In his junior season, he became nationally known, not only by fans, but by NFL scouts, as well.

The Oklahoma native was the first running back selected in the 2019 NFL draft. The then-Oakland Raiders drafted Jacobs with the No. 24 overall selection.

He made an immediate impact on the team in his rookie season and is now considered one of the top young running backs in the league.

While he recorded 1,150 yards and seven touchdowns off of 242 carries, an impressive stat line for a first-year player, Jacobs knows he has a lot to learn. Those experiences should help propel him into a stronger second season.

“I would grade it (rookie season) a ‘B,’” Jacobs said via the Associated Press. “There’s a lot of yards that I felt like I left on the table. It’s a lot of plays, and I feel like I could’ve contributed more. … So that’s probably the biggest thing.

I don’t think I accomplished what I set out to do,” he said. “I think I put a little dent in what I wanted to prove, but I think I have a long way to go.”

His strong rookie season was recognized by his coaches. Head coach Jon Gruden had high praise for the young running back.

“He had a big year last year,” Gruden said. “He’s got to stay healthy. We need our feature back down the stretch. We were in a playoff stretch last year and didn’t have him. I think he’s got to stay wire-to-wire healthy and we have to get more out of him in the passing game, more on the field on third down. He had a great year last year and we expect more of him from this year.”

Roll Tide Wire will keep you updated on Josh Jacobs as he makes his way through season No. 2 in the NFL with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Gallery: Everson Griffen’s 2019 season with the Vikings

It was reported on Wednesday that Everson Griffen had signed a deal with the Dallas Cowboys. Here are photos from his 2019 campaign.

[sigallery id=”Hc9UFRpBHB25YQgThbjNNQ” title=”Gallery: Everson Griffen’s final season with Vikings” type=”sigallery”]

Amari Cooper sets high goal for himself in 2020

Former Alabama WR Amari Cooper, now on the Cowboys, sets a high goal for himself in 2020. Though difficult, not impossible for Cooper.

Former Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper is set to begin his second full season with the Dallas Cowboys after being traded by Oakland in 2018. Playing in Dallas was seemingly a career-saving change for Cooper, and he’s apparently just getting started.

When speaking with DallasCowboys.com’s David Helman, Cooper revealed goals for himself and the team for the 2020 season.

Cooper, who shares the field with fellow high-profile receiver Michael Gallup, had high praise for Dallas’ 2020 first-round draftee, former Oklahoma wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.

While speaking about Lamb, Cooper revealed a difficult, but achievable goal: Having three wide receivers finish the year with over 1,000 yards.

“You have to draft the best player on the board — everybody understands that,” Cooper said. “I think he’s a great receiver. And I think with me and Michael Gallup going for 1,000 yards last season, I think the expectation is to have three 1,000-yard receivers this year.”

Last year, Cooper and Gallup both caught for over 1,000 yards. In fact, that is not a benchmark the former Alabama star often misses. In his five NFL seasons, four were concluded with over 1,000 receiving yards.

Though it isn’t something new to Cooper, he acknowledges that he still has to take the time during the offseason to train.

In an attempt to perfect his craft, Cooper states that he and his fellow skill position teammates have been working for months, despite league facilities having been closed for the past few months due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.

“Me, Dak, some of the other receivers, tight ends, running backs – we’ve all been working together pretty consistently for months now,” said Cooper. “Working on our route running, working on the offense and everything like that. We’ve been getting a lot of work in, getting that timing right as if we were going to minicamp or OTAs.”

Cooper and the Cowboys will enter the 2020 season with a new head coach, Mike McCarthy, who coached the Green Bay Packers from 2006-2018 and won a Super Bowl during his time there.

P.J. Hall finished with a better PFF grade than Michael Pierce in 2019

Hall will likely replace Pierce in the lineup as Pierce has opted out of the 2020 season.

The Vikings reportedly traded conditional seventh-round pick to the Raiders in exchange for defensive tackle P.J. Hall.

The reason why the Vikings are making this trade is because Michael Pierce, the team’s big free-agent signing, will opt out of the 2020 season due to severe asthma.

Hall isn’t the name that Pierce is, but Pro Football Focus says that his production in 2019 was actually better than Pierce’s.

Per PFF, Hall finished with a grade of 70.2, a mark that ranked 40th in the NFL. Pierce, meanwhile, finished with a grade of 69.1, ranking 46th in the league.

Does that mean Hall is a better player than Pierce? I would say probably not considering Hall was on the verge of being released by the Raiders while Pierce signed a 3-year, $27 million deal with the Vikings.

If Hall is on the Vikings’ 53-man roster for six games, Minnesota will owe Oakland the seventh-round pick.

I would say that’s a pretty likely scenario.

NFL suspends Antonio Brown for first 8 games of 2020 season

Antonio Brown has been suspended for the first eight games of the 2020 NFL season.

There will be time for teams to decide on Antonio Brown. And the troubled wide receiver will have plenty of time to work out and to try and impress. Brown was suspended Friday for the first eight games of the season by the NFL.

More to come

Antonio Brown shifts gears, posts he wants to return to NFL

A couple days after saying he was done with football, Antonio Brown apparently wants back in the NFL.

Antonio Brown can’t make up his mind. Two days after saying he was done with football, the wayward wideout posted on Instagram he is ready to get back in the game …

The commentary runs next to a video of Commissioner Roger Goodell talking about the resources available to Brown and how the league and NFLPA want to get him on the right track.

I have complied with each and every ask of your investigations throughout the past 11 months. You have had access to all of my phones, you know what the deal is in each and every situation that the media has distorted. I have been seeing the therapist you asked me to, I have worked on all aspects of my life this past year and have become a better man because of it. The fact that you refuse to provide a deadline and the reason for the fact you won’t resolve your investigations is completely unacceptable. I demand you provide me clarity on this situation immediately if you really care about my wellbeing. My legal team continues to ask and you provide no answers. How is it that the league can just drag it’s feet on any investigation it chooses on players and we just have to sit there in limbo? Need an update so I can talk to these teams properly, they’re waiting on you @nfl let’s get this thing moving! We’ve got history to make!! #Himmothy

 

View this post on Instagram

@nfl I have complied with each and every ask of your investigations throughout the past 11 months. You have had access to all of my phones, you know what the deal is in each and every situation that the media has distorted. I have been seeing the therapist you asked me to, I have worked on all aspects of my life this past year and have become a better man because of it. The fact that you refuse to provide a deadline and the reason for the fact you won’t resolve your investigations is completely unacceptable. I demand you provide me clarity on this situation immediately if you really care about my wellbeing. My legal team continues to ask and you provide no answers. How is it that the league can just drag it’s feet on any investigation it chooses on players and we just have to sit there in limbo? Need an update so I can talk to these teams properly, they’re waiting on you @nfl let’s get this thing moving! We’ve got history to make!! #Himmothy

A post shared by AB (@ab) on

This comes two days after this series of tweets:

The strange saga that has seen Brown go through the Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders, and New England Patriots continues … sadly.

Raiders pick WR over former LSU QB JaMarcus Russell in 2007 NFL re-draft

Russell is still well-remembered as one of the worst busts in NFL history.

Former LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell had no shortage of hype coming out of Baton Rouge, but he fell far short of the expectations after he was selected first overall in the 2007 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders.

Actually, falling “far short” is probably an understatement, considering that Russell has gone down as one of the biggest busts in LSU history.

In his 2007 NFL re-draft, Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport rectified the situation for the Raiders by having them select wide receiver Calvin Johnson out of Georgia Tech instead.

Here’s what he had to say about the pick:

[lawrence-related id=8650]

“By his second professional season, Megatron had established himself as one of the best wideouts in the game. When he came closer than anyone ever has to a 2,000-yard season with his 122 catches for 1,964 yards in 2012, he staked his claim as one of the greatest wide receivers ever.”

Johnson went to six straight Pro Bowls from 2010 to 2015, was named a first-team All-Pro three times and is a mortal lock for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the first ballot.”

Russell finished out his three-year NFL career with a completion percentage of 52.1%, 4,083 passing yards,18 touchdowns and 23 interceptions.

It’s interesting to think about what could have been if the Raiders had gone with Johnson instead, though there’s a host of options that would have produced a better overall outcome for the team over Russell.