Raiders TE Michael Mayer (personal) is out for Sunday’s game vs. the Broncos. TE Brock Bowers underwhelmed in the box score last week, but he registered a season-high 81% route rate with Mayer out. The rookie is a strong Week 5 fantasy play.
Raiders WR Davante Adams (hamstring) remained sidelined on Wednesday. With trade talks for the veteran seemingly underway, don't expect him or the team to push him to play through this hamstring injury. Fantasy owners should not be counting on Adams in Week 5 lineups as of now. TE Michael Mayer (personal) also did not practice on Wednesday.
Raiders TE Michael Mayer is out for this weekend's game vs. the Browns. He missed Thursday and Friday's practices and is listed on the injury report with "personal." We don't have any other details on his situation. Mayer ran a route on 43% of pass plays and drew seven targets over the first three weeks of the season. His absence is another boost to TE Brock Bowers, on top of WR Davante Adams being out.
Raiders TE Brock Bowers is currently sidelined with a sore foot, according to The Athletic's Vic Tafur. The rookie missed Saturday's preseason game and remained sidelined for Tuesday's practice. There's been no update from the team on the extent of Bowers' injury or his timeline for return.
Raiders starters played 14 snaps in Saturday's preseason opener against the Vikings, and both TEs spent most of that on the field. Michael Mayer played 12 of 14 snaps, ran six routes and drew two targets, according to Pro Football Focus. Rookie Brock Bowers played 11 snaps, ran five routes and drew two targets. And the Raiders moved him around. PFF counted six snaps in a "traditional" TE position, two at outside receiver, one in the slot, and two in the backfield. That aligns with how Raiders coaches have discussed using the first-round pick -- as well as the stated plan to deploy two TEs often.
According to The Athletic's Vic Tafur and Tashan Reed, the Raiders have "usually" been lining up in "heavy sets" on offense, meaning multiple TEs on the field at the same time. That makes sense given the team added first-round rookie Brock Bowers to 2023 second-rounder Michael Mayer at the position. The team also sports lackluster WR talent behind Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers.
The Raiders drafted TE Brock Bowers 13th overall, which says plenty about how much they like his talent. But that doesn't guarantee he'll get enough playing time to produce right away. According to The Athletic's Tashan Reed, new OC Luke Getsy's "run-first offense asks a lot out of tight ends in the run game, so Bowers will have to make strides in that area to stay on the field."
Raiders HC Antonio Pierce called newly signed RB Alexander Mattison and TE Harrison Bryant depth pieces. "We’re talking about guys that could come in and, at some point — don’t know when it’s gonna happen — but, give us that starter, that little jolt or juice that we can use," Pierce added. Bryant was never a legitimate threat to 2023 second-rounder Michael Mayer. The bigger takeaway here is that the Raiders evidently don't view Mattison as a competitor for the starting RB job. Mattison's play could change throughout the offseason, of course. And Vegas could still add a RB in the draft. But Zamir White's odds of opening the season as the starter continue to climb. He remains a solid value in early best-ball drafts. For more on White, check out 2024 Fantasy Football Breakouts.
The Raiders signed TE Harrison Bryant to a one-year, $3.25 million deal with a max value of $4 million, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Bryant spent the past four seasons in Cleveland backing up TE Austin Hooper and then TE David Njoku. He'll play a similar secondary role in Las Vegas behind TE Michael Mayer. Bryant is off the redraft radar and is not a must-hold in dynasty.
The Raiders are signing QB Gardner Minshew to a 2-year, $25 million deal with $15 million guaranteed, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. That contract doesn't guarantee that Minshew will be the team's 2024 starter, but it at least makes him the favorite. With QB Jimmy Garoppolo set to be released, QB Aidan O'Connell currently stands as Minshew's competition. We'll see if the Raiders add anything else significant this offseason. They currently hold the 13th overall pick of April's draft. Minshew is good enough to keep an NFL offense on track but will not be an exciting fantasy option in Vegas. He averaged 229 passing yards and 1.1 TDs in 13 full games for the Colts last season. The Minshew addition does bring some stability to the fantasy outlooks of Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers, and Michael Mayer.
After their deal with Kliff Kingsbury fell through, the Raiders hired Luke Getsy as their new OC under HC Antonio Pierce. Getsy spent the last two years as OC in Chicago, where the Bears ranked in the bottom half of the league in both total yards and points. Those were run-heavy offenses, in large part because they were quarterbacked by Justin Fields. Getsy was the Packers' QB coach and passing-game coordinator before his stint with the Bears, so we'd expect a more balanced attack in Vegas. Unless, of course, the Getsy hire is a precursor to the Raiders swinging a trade for Fields.
Kliff Kingsbury has pulled his name out of consideration for the Raiders' OC job, according to his agent. ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that contract talks between the two sides broke down late in the process. We'll see who the Raiders eventually land on as OC under HC Antonio Pierce. Kingsbury, meanwhile, is a "leading candidate" for the Commanders' OC job, per Schefter.
The Raiders are set to hire Kliff Kingsbury as their new OC under HC Antonio Pierce, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. Kingsbury had an underwhelming tenure as Cardinals HC from 2019 to 2022, going 28-37-1 over those four seasons. He landed two of those teams inside the top 8 in total yards, but none cracked the top 10 in points. Kingsbury at least deployed fast-paced attacks, with three of his four offenses finishing top 3 in pace. We'll see exactly how Kingsbury meshes with the defensive-minded Pierce. The Raiders offense has some big questions to answer this offseason, with RB Josh Jacobs set to hit free agency and QB Jimmy Garoppolo a strong release candidate.
The Raiders removed the interim label from Antonio Pierce, naming the 45-year-old their new HC. Pierce took over as interim HC of a 3-5 Raiders team this past season and proceeded to go 5-4 the rest of the way. Vegas' points per game rose from 15.8 pre-Pierce to 22.9 after Pierce took over. While Pierce talked a lot about his love of running the rock, the Raiders' neutral run rate actually sunk from 43.1% to 41.4% in Pierce's nine games. He did ride a workhorse RB in all of those games, though -- first Josh Jacobs and then Zamir White. Jacobs is due to hit free agency in March, while White is signed for two more seasons. We'll see what the Raiders do in the backfield, and how Pierce fills out the rest of his coaching staff.
Raiders TE Michael Mayer (toe) is out for Sunday’s finale vs. the Broncos. He wraps up his rookie campaign with a 27-304-2 line across 14 games. It felt underwhelming, especially compared to fellow rookie TEs Sam LaPorta and Dalton Kincaid. But we’ve seen plenty of TEs struggle in year one before going on to have strong careers. Dynasty leaguers should see if they can buy low on Mayer this offseason. Austin Hooper will close out this season as Vegas’ lead TE.
Raiders TE Michael Mayer (toe) is out for Week 17. That leaves Austin Hooper as the lead TE vs. the Colts’ 28th-ranked TE defense. You shouldn’t need to go there in season-long lineups, but Hooper is in play as a cheap DFS option.
Raiders TE Michael Mayer (toe) remained sidelined on Wednesday. Fantasy owners shouldn't be counting on the rookie in Week 17 fantasy lineups. Austin Hooper stepped in as Vegas' lead TE last week, catching two of three targets for 13 yards.
Raiders TE Michael Mayer (toe) is out for Monday's game vs. the Chiefs. The rookie didn't practice all week. His absence leaves Austin Hooper as Vegas' top TE. Hopefully you don't need to go there in fantasy lineups.
Raiders TE Michael Mayer (toe) did not practice on Thursday. We'll keep an eye on the rookie's status leading up to Monday's game vs. the Chiefs, but he'd be a desperation fantasy play if he suits up.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal's Vincent Bonsignore tweets that the Raiders are "leaning toward" starting QB Aidan O'Connell vs. the Giants this weekend. QB Jimmy Garoppolo was a disaster in Monday night's loss to the Lions, throwing for just 126 yards, 0 TDs, and one INT on 21 attempts. O'Connell wasn't great in his Week 4 start vs. the Chargers, averaging 6.1 yards per pass attempt with 0 TDs and one INT. But the 3-5 Raiders under interim HC Antonio Pierce are looking beyond 2023 at this point. We'll look for further updates on the Raiders' QB plans. We certainly wouldn't consider O'Connell an upgrade for Raiders pass catchers.
Update: NFL Network reports the Raiders are expected to start O'Connell "this week and going forward." We'll see how this trial goes.
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