The Oakland Raiders are heading into the 2014 season with high expectations and this year the team has a number of players that could be solid for fantasy football owners, including Darren McFadden, Denarius Moore, Maurice Jones-Drew, Mychal Rivera, James Jones and Rod Streater along with Matt Schaub and potentially Derek Carr and some of those names could be very valuable for fantasy teams this year.
The Raiders signed a ton of free agents this offseason and the bulk of those were on offense and those names add to the trade deal for Matt Schaub, who should be a major upgrade over Terrelle Pryor from last season. Pryor and Matt McGloin were the two main quarterbacks for the team last season and Schaub should be more productive than those two and he has Jones along with Streater and Moore to throw to.
Last season Rashad Jennings led the team in rushing while Darren McFadden was injured and now he is gone and that opens up things for McFadden and MJD. Last year McFadden was once again injured and he signed a one year deal after rushing for 379 yards and four touchdowns and if he can stay healthy he will have the chance to put up some big numbers. McFadden rushed for 1,157 a few years ago in 2010 while playing in 13 games and he also added 47 catches for 500 yards that season. Fantasy owners would love it if he could do that again and it is a question of whether or not he can stay healthy after missing a combined 10 games over the past two seasons and 19 in the past three.
The wide receivers have the chance to put up better numbers than last season and it comes after Streater led the team was with 60 catches for 888 yards. Moore was second with 46 catches for 695 yards and the team ranked near the bottom of the league in passing yards per game. Schaub should be able to get those numbers higher and if a player like Brice Butler can step up, the passing game should be even better.
Adding James Jones to the mix was a huge move, as he is a veteran wideout with strong hands and he comes in after making 50 catches last season for over 800 yards. Jones has been healthy throughout his career and he missed two games last season and those were his first missed games since 2008. A main sleeper to watch on this team is Rivera, as he has the size and athleticism to be a prime tight end option.
Last season Rivera had only 38 catches for 407 yards, but he had 60 targets and averaged over 10 yards per catch with five touchdowns and those numbers could be doubled this season. The team loves what Rivera's potential is and he has the chance to be a playmaker at the position for Oakland.
