Earlier Saturday evening, the Las Vegas Raiders downgraded Jakobi Meyers (ankle) to doubtful for tomorrow’s Week 6 game against the Steelers.
This opens up an avenue to fantasy darlingdom for Tre Tucker, about whom my colleague, Zach Thompson, wrote here in his Week 6 wide receiver sleepers column:
Without Davante Adams, Tucker jumps into a starting spot and brings boom-or-bust upside at just over $4,000 on DraftKings in DFS contests like the NFL $3M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st].
Tucker would be the team’s top wide receiver if Jakobi Meyers ($5,400; questionable, ankle) isn’t able to play, although Brock Bowers ($6,000) will probably be the top option for new QB Aiden O’Connell ($4,900). O’Connell and Tucker will need to get on the same page in a hurry since the Raiders have a tough matchup with Pittsburgh.
In Week 3, the first game Adams missed, Tucker went off for 22.6 fantasy points on seven catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. Against the Browns in Week 4, he had a rushing touchdown to go with five catches for 41 yards on his way to 15.4 fantasy points. Last week in Denver, Tucker only had two catches for 4.6 fantasy points, but he did still have five targets.
Against the Steelers, “Sticks” will be busy, especially if Meyers is sidelined. The Steelers’ defense is tough, but they have given up a wide receiver touchdown in each of their last three games with over 200 yards allowed to WRs twice in that span.
Tucker also leads all Raiders wideouts in NFL Next Gen Stats’ separation score (3.4). Even when Davante Adams was active, Tucker was the more valuable pass-catcher. Tucker is second on the team (to Meyers) in EPA/target, with a figure of 0.27. Many might think that Brock Bowers has been the more valuable receiver, but on a per-touch basis, that’s simply not true. Bowers’s EPA/target of -0.08 is fifth on the team.
No doubt that Brock Bowers will see his targets, but there’s also a chance he might get absolutely cancelled by double-teams in this game. Something tells me defensive coordinators are dedicating a bit more of their preparation to Bowers, given his recent explosive performances, than Tucker.
He remains delightfully under-the-radar, but not for long. His 16.5% rostership is going to skyrocket overnight.
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