The Oakland Raiders finished the 2015 season with an overall record of 7-9, good enough for third in the AFC West. It was the best record the team has had in the past four seasons. The Raiders seem to be on their way in the right direction to becoming one of the better teams in the AFC West. Oakland has done a tremendous job building their team through the draft and is loaded with young, talented players. Below is a look at the Oakland Raiders 2015 fantasy football season recap.
Oakland Raiders 2015 Fantasy Football Recap
The Raiders drafted quarterback Derek Carr with a second round pick in the 2014 draft. Carr was coming off a solid rookie season in 2014. A year later, he proved he was worth the second round pick. Carr threw for over 4,000 yards, 32 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 2015. He also rushed for 132 yards. Carr finished the season as the 13th ranked quarterback in fantasy with 262 fantasy points and he averaged 16 points per game. Carr was relatively consistent with his quarterback play and is worth a later round pick in your draft next season as a sleeper/ bye week fill in.
Over the last few seasons the Raiders have had a running back by committee, and the committee was not productive and very inconsistent. In 2015, Latavius Murray got his shot to prove he could be the workhorse back for the Raiders. He proved his worth with 1,300 total yards and six touchdowns. Murray finished the season as the 11th ranked fantasy running back with 132 fantasy points and he averaged nine fantasy points per game. He was a solid running back two this past season. His main problem was not finding the end zone more. If he has the job to himself in 2016 he will have the opportunity to improve on his 2015 numbers and should be a solid running back two with upside. He is worth a third round pick in next year’s fantasy draft.
Last off-season the Raiders signed Michael Crabtree, and he either went undrafted or was a late round pick in most fantasy drafts last season. Crabtree turned out to be a big draft bargain as he totaled 922 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. He finished as the 19th-ranked wide receiver with 139 fantasy points and averaged nine fantasy points per game. Oakland’s next leading receiver was rookie Amari Cooper. Cooper had 1,070 receiving yards and six touchdowns. Cooper finished as the 24th ranked receiver with 133 points and averaged eight fantasy points per game. Crabtree was fairly consistent in his production, whereas Cooper was inconsistent and more of a boom or bust player last season. Cooper should be in for a big 2016 season and is worth a late third to early fourth round pick. Crabtree is also worth targeting in your draft and should be targeted around the fifth round in next year’s drafts.
Oakland tight and Mychal Rivera was very limited in his production last season. He had 280 receiving yards and only one touchdown during the season. With most of the targets and touches going to the wide receivers and running backs, Rivera will see very limited opportunities to produce solid fantasy points next season. This means he is probably not worth much more than a late round flier in drafts next season.
The Oakland Raiders have done a good job building a balanced young team through the draft and free agency. With another year under their belt, the Raiders could be one of the sleeper teams in the AFC next season. The Raiders skill position players should have no problem duplicating and or improving on their 2015 stats next season.
