After nearly a decade with Derek Carr under center, the Raiders
are set to turn the starting job over to Garoppolo, who went 38-17
as a starter during a six-year run with the 49ers. He also won
four playoff games, though San Francisco ultimately fell short
of a championship. The issue with Jimmy G, of course, is durability,
as he played a full season just once during his time there. That
includes 2022, when he suffered a foot injury in early December
that kept him sidelined for the rest of the year.
Beyond the medical red flags, Garoppolo has another serious problem,
at least for fantasy owners: he’s pretty much just a game
manager. Outside of 2019, when he threw for 3,987 yards and 27
TDs, the veteran has never thrown for more than 20 TDs in a season
and just once has he topped 2,500 yards. Garoppolo is a pure pocket
passer as well, rushing for just 225 yards in 74 career games.
While he’s never had anyone as singularly talented as Davante
Adams, that’s not enough to elevate Jimmy G beyond borderline
top-25 status at the position.
A year ago, the Raiders were so unimpressed by Jacobs that they
decided not to pick up his fifth-year option after he managed
just 872 yards in 2021. That was a miscalculation. Under new head
coach Josh McDaniels, Jacobs became the focal point of Las Vegas’
offense, and he responded by setting career highs in carries (340),
rushing yards (1,653 -- that led the NFL), and receiving yards
(400). He also caught 53 passes and matched a personal best with
a dozen touchdowns.
It was a redemptive season for the Alabama product, and not surprisingly
the Raiders wound up having to use the franchise tag to keep him
off the market. That’s made things a bit dicey for 2023,
as Jacobs and the team couldn’t agree on a long-term deal,
and there are rumblings that he could hold out through training
camp and possibly into the regular season as well. There’s
also a possibility that his heavy workload last year, where he
logged 393 combined touches, could cause durability problems,
which is something we saw last year with Indianapolis Colts RB
Jonathan Taylor.
Assuming he decides to sign his franchise tender and not miss
regular season action, Jacobs enters 2023 as a solid RB1. While
the issue of last year’s heavy usage is real, he’s
only 25 and has been mostly durable during his four seasons.
White was a popular sleeper in drafts leading up to the start
of last season, but he ended up hitting the snooze button throughout
his rookie year, posting just 17 carries in 14 games while never
even being targeted as a receiver out of the backfield. He logged
only 40 snaps, well below veterans Ameer Abdullah (175) and Brandon
Bolden (82), but White was a fourth-round pick of the current
regime, and if they look to scale back Jacobs’ touches, he offers
the most potential to do something positive with them. If he can
secure the No. 2 job, White could be a late-round handcuff target
and perhaps more if Jacobs holds out.
Although no one truly doubted Adams could remain an elite talent
without Aaron Rodgers, it was still nice to see him prove it a
year ago, catching 100 passes for 1,516 yards and 14 touchdowns
from the combination of Carr and Jarrett Stidham. It marked the
fourth time in the last five years that Adams has reached triple
digits in receptions, topped 1,350 yards, and scored double-digit
TDs. While others may have surpassed the 30-year-old wideout physically,
he remains arguably the best route runner in the business, and
his red-zone exploits are elite with 83 touchdowns over the past
seven seasons.
Durability is another strong suit. After playing all 17 games
in 2022, Adams has now missed two games or fewer in all but two
of his nine NFL campaigns, and he’s never appeared in less
than 12. Partnering with Garoppolo probably represents the low-water
mark in terms of talent at the position, not counting games started
by backups, but Jimmy G can deliver the ball on time, and the
veteran QB been around long enough to know he needs to feed the
ball to a player of Adams’ caliber. Adams remains a solid
WR1, though he should go after names like Justin Jefferson and
Ja’Marr Chase.
Following four seasons with the New England Patriots, Myers signed
in Las Vegas during the offseason, reuniting him with his former
offensive coordinator. During his time with the Pats, Myers averaged
59 receptions, 690 yards, and 2 TDs -- his struggles in the red
zone were well documented entering 2022 as he had only a pair
of scores on 168 career grabs, but he posted a half-dozen touchdowns
on 67 catches a season ago to wipe away some of the stigma.
In essence, Meyers replaces Mack Hollins, whose 57-690-4 line
put him second on the club in all three major receiving categories.
His skill-set as a possession receiver feels a bit redundant to
Hunter Renfrow, though at 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, the former undrafted
free agent will line up on the outside opposite Adams and figures
to serve as the No. 2 target in the passing game. It’ll be interesting
to see if Meyers’ output improves with Adams drawing coverage,
or if going from the primary to a secondary read will chip away
at it instead. Meyers could be targeted as a quality WR4.
When Adams arrived from Green Bay, fantasy owners envisioned
the triumvirate of Adams, Darren Waller, and Renfrow putting up
big-time numbers. Only Adams delivered. In fairness, Waller and
Renfrow dealt with injuries, but seeing the Clemson product go
from 103 catches, 1,038 yards, and 9 touchdowns in 2021 to a 36-330-2
line across 10 games was a major disappointment.
Undersized at 5-foot-10, 185 pounds, Renfrow was always a player
that maximized his talent, but as he enters his age-28 season
you must wonder if the lack of athleticism will become an issue.
There’s also issues about his fit in McDaniels’ offense
-- his big year came under former OC Greg Olson -- and chemistry
with Garoppolo, who might be more apt to feed the mouths ahead
of him on the depth chart. A year ago, Renfrow was draftable as
a WR3. This year, he’s no better than a late-round curiosity.
While Austin Hooper is the likely Week 1 starter, Mayer is the
more interesting name to know for fantasy owners. The Notre Dame
product was considered by many to be the safest tight end selection
in a deep class, and Las Vegas may have gotten a nice value when
they plucked him with the fourth pick of the second round. Mayer
is a plus blocker and an advanced route runner, and one that should
only get better working with a master like Adams.
Working against him, however, is the long history of tight ends
struggling to make an immediate impact as they move from the college
game to the pros, and the presence of a veteran like Hooper ensures
the Raiders won’t need to push it. You can put Mayer on
your watch list, but that’s it.
