The Las Vegas Raiders were eliminated from contention for the playoffs two weeks ago, so while they won’t be helping themselves in the postseason, some of their players might be able to help fantasy football users out in fantasy playoffs, which begin this upcoming weekend.
On the surface, rookie running back Ashton Jeanty is one of those players. The highly-touted 22-year-old was a top draft pick, both in real life and in fantasy, but so far, he has underwhelmed, producing just 924 scrimmage yards and eight total touchdowns (187.4 FPTS) across his first 13 career games. He’s had three weeks with fewer than 13 FPTS in his last four, which is hardly starter quality, and by several metrics — rushing success rate, yards before contact per attempt, and rushing yards over expectation per attempt — he’s been one of the worst qualified backs in football. Not everything has been his fault, given the Raiders’ general dysfunction, but in fantasy, only on-field production matters.
Despite Jeanty’s talent, that production just hasn’t been there, and his workload is starting to decrease as well. Across the first seven games of the season, prior to Las Vegas’ bye, he averaged 15.9 carries per game, which dropped to 13.3 carries per game after the bye. He’s gotten more involved in the passing game, so his overall touches have been higher, but his rushing efficiency has dropped from 4.0 yards per carry before the bye to just 2.8 yards per carry thereafter. Plus, after breaking 15 tackles in his first four weeks, he’s only had three ever since, so he doesn’t even have an overwhelming strength advantage anymore. In the long term, his talent should still make him a star in the NFL, but with how bad the Raiders’ offensive line is, he just isn’t trustworthy this season.
Las Vegas has a pair of tough matchups across the next two weeks. Though its Week 15 matchup, the Philadelphia Eagles, have allowed the ninth-most FPTS per game, that’s partially skewed by them giving up 255 rushing yards to the Chicago Bears tandem of D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai in Week 13. Philadelphia was much more disciplined against Omarion Hampton and Kimani Vidal in Monday night’s defeat. Then, the following week, the Raiders will face the Houston Texans, who have allowed the eighth-fewest FPTS per game to running backs and have given up just one 100-yard rusher all season.
