The Raiders are expected to be without WR Davante Adams ($7,100; hamstring) for a third straight week, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Without Adams, Tre Tucker ($4,200) has become a regular starter in the Raiders offense and the speedster brings a high ceiling due to his big-play potential. While he is still a little unreliable due to the struggles of the offense as a whole, he does deserve consideration with his surplus of playing time.
Tucker broke out in Week 3 against the Panthers with seven catches for 96 yards and 22.6 fantasy points in the game that Adams initially left with his injury. In Week 4, without Adams, Tucker had five catches for 41 yards and scored on an end around, which the Raiders have continually used with him. He had two carries against the Broncos, as well, and finished with eight rushing yards, but only added 18 receiving yards on two catches.
Despite the underwhelming total, he was targeted five times, the second-most of any wide receiver behind only Jakobi Meyers ($5,400). Tucker should continue to serve as the team’s second receiver until the Adams situation is resolved either with a trade or the veteran returning to the field in silver and black, which seems increasingly unlikely.
Tucker has enough upside to be an emergency start if you need him as a third WR or flex play this week, but he is in a tough matchup against the Steelers and has QB question marks. The team announced Wednesday that Aidan O’Connell ($4,900) will take over starting quarterback duties in Week 6. Considering Vegas is averaging just 202.3 passing yards per game across the past three weeks, it’s difficult to see this situation being any worse with O’Connell under center instead of Gardner Minshew.
Despite the QB issues, Tucker has upside enough to make him a sleeper for DFS contests, like the NFL $3M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st]. He is very affordable and has a high ceiling, so if he goes off with a big play or two, he could be key to Week 6 success.
Tucker is +380 to score a touchdown, which seems like good value given his work in the running game in the red zone. There is some question, though, whether the Raiders will be able to score much at all against the Steelers, who have given up only 14.6 points per game this season. The Raiders are three-point home underdogs and have a team over/under of 1.5 touchdowns with the over at only -130.
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