This article is part of our Showdown/Single Game DFS Breakdown series.
The Rams' season is a disaster and their future beyond that is cloudy at best, but for showdown slate purposes that could make them an interesting spectacle to follow even if the game would otherwise have no reason to draw our attention. The Rams, to put it nicely, are starting a bunch of nobodies, and nobodies have affordable DFS salaries. You'll generally want to target Raiders (-6.5), especially with two of the year's biggest fantasy stars at running back (Josh Jacobs) and receiver (Davante Adams).
QUARTERBACKS
It's unclear whether John Wolford ($8800 DK, $13000 FD) will be able to play through his neck injury, so apparently the Rams could start Baker Mayfield ($9000 DK, $12500 FD) after claiming him off waivers Tuesday. If the Mayfield report is a lie and Wolford is out then it would mean another start from Bryce Perkins ($6000 DK, $13000 FD). We shouldn't expect good play from whoever the Rams quarterback is, because the rest of the Rams offense is obliterated by injury. And the Mayfield scenario is just straight up irresponsible and insane.
Derek Carr ($10200 DK, $15000 FD) has his workload assured – blowout scenario aside – and with plus field positioning he should be in range for multiple touchdown passes in this one. What's less clear is how much yardage might be on the table. It's an ongoing concern whether the Raiders can put forth a viable second pass-catching threat in any given game, and with the
The Rams' season is a disaster and their future beyond that is cloudy at best, but for showdown slate purposes that could make them an interesting spectacle to follow even if the game would otherwise have no reason to draw our attention. The Rams, to put it nicely, are starting a bunch of nobodies, and nobodies have affordable DFS salaries. You'll generally want to target Raiders (-6.5), especially with two of the year's biggest fantasy stars at running back (Josh Jacobs) and receiver (Davante Adams).
QUARTERBACKS
It's unclear whether John Wolford ($8800 DK, $13000 FD) will be able to play through his neck injury, so apparently the Rams could start Baker Mayfield ($9000 DK, $12500 FD) after claiming him off waivers Tuesday. If the Mayfield report is a lie and Wolford is out then it would mean another start from Bryce Perkins ($6000 DK, $13000 FD). We shouldn't expect good play from whoever the Rams quarterback is, because the rest of the Rams offense is obliterated by injury. And the Mayfield scenario is just straight up irresponsible and insane.
Derek Carr ($10200 DK, $15000 FD) has his workload assured – blowout scenario aside – and with plus field positioning he should be in range for multiple touchdown passes in this one. What's less clear is how much yardage might be on the table. It's an ongoing concern whether the Raiders can put forth a viable second pass-catching threat in any given game, and with the Rams toothless on the other side the Raiders might not need to throw all that much. The Raiders should control this game and Carr's touchdown probability should benefit from that, but it might take a surprisingly strong showing from the Rams offense to provoke much yardage opportunity for Carr. With that said, the number of viable candidates in this game is small, and a lineup without Carr might struggle to spend much of its budget.
RUNNING BACKS
Cam Akers ($7800 DK, $12000 FD) has had an unpleasant season and Sean McVay's week-to-week game plan reversals have made consistency impossible to predict even now, but Akers has the momentum over himself and rookie pass-catching specialist Kyren Williams ($5400 DK, $7000 FD) after the snap count last week split 46 for Akers and 17 for Williams. The obnoxious catch is that the week prior the snaps split 38 for Williams and 16 for Akers. Akers is the only one of the two to post a useful box score over the past three weeks, going over 60 rushing yards in two games and scoring twice in Week 13. Ronnie Rivers ($200 DK, $5000 FD) is still hanging around but hasn't made an appearance on the field since Week 8.
Josh Jacobs ($12400 DK, $16500 FD) has been outrageously effective this year both as a runner and a pass catcher, so in this game with few names he and teammate Davante Adams are just about the chalkiest picks of all time. To fade Jacobs in this particular game is basically to bet on injury. It happens, and Jacobs is technically questionable with a quadriceps issue, but he's played through it for weeks with mammoth workloads. If Jacobs' usage is abbreviated for whatever reason then Zamir White ($1200 DK, $5500 FD) might be the main beneficiary – Ameer Abdullah ($3000 DK, $6000 FD) is going to play double-digit passing-down snaps either way, but if Jacobs' usage declines then those new tasks wouldn't necessarily be passing-down snaps. White has only played seven snaps the last two weeks, but Brandon Bolden ($200 DK, $5000 FD) hasn't played an offensive snap since Week 11.
WIDE RECEIVERS + TIGHT ENDS
As previously mentioned, Davante Adams ($12800 DK, $16000 FD) is just about impossible to fade in this game – not truly, but as close as it can get to that point. The Raiders could beat the Rams without needing to throw much, it's just still tough to fade Adams given the shortage of alternatives on both sides. The Raiders wide receiver depth chart is awful – even Mack Hollins ($7400 DK, $9500 FD) is somewhat underqualified as the WR2 – and the situation on the Rams' side is of course much worse yet. With that said Hollins is a good bet to produce and doesn't need Carr to throw for big numbers to do it. Foster Moreau ($6600 DK, $8500 FD) is the only other vaguely established route runner in the Raiders offense with Keelan Cole ($200 DK, $6000 FD) doing absolutely nothing the last four weeks. For what it's worth, Cole is a candidate to play 40-plus snaps and that is not the case for anyone else in his price range. It just seems like Cole is a profoundly poor fit for his current role.
Ben Skowronek ($4800 DK, $6500 FD), Van Jefferson ($6400 DK, $10500 FD), Tyler Higbee ($6200 DK, $8000 FD), Tutu Atwell ($4400 DK, $6500 FD) and Brandon Powell ($2400 DK, $7500 FD) are the unfortunate souls required to run routes and try to catch passes in this Rams offense. Powell showed up late on the injury report with an illness, so he's questionable and if he's out the Rams would need to replace him as their kick and punt returner. Depth wideout rookie Lance McCutcheon ($200 DK, $5000 FD) is also questionable with a shoulder issue. Particularly if Powell and McCutcheon are both out it could mean more playing time for Austin Trammell ($600 DK, $5500 FD), who drew two targets on nine snaps last week and caught one. Skowronek hasn't hit 40 yards since Week 6, so the likes of Jefferson, Higbee and even Atwell are better candidates to produce.
KICKERS
Matt Gay ($4000 DK, $8500 FD) doesn't have the benefit of a functional offense but he's very good for his own part and the Raiders defense is far from good. Gay has range from 50-plus and even despite all the struggles of the Rams offense he's surpassed double-digit fantasy points in two of the last three weeks. Daniel Carlson ($4200 DK, $9500 FD) is both an excellent kicker and the heir to an enviable role, allowing him to hit double-digit fantasy points in eight games this year, including three straight. A kicker is never a must-pick showdown option, but it's rare that a kicker projects as well as Carlson does in this one.
DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS
It's difficult to see how the Rams ($3400 DK, $9000 FD) can defend themselves in this game, even with the Raiders merely a decent offense. The Rams defense is not what it was, especially with Aaron Donald out. It would seemingly require a bizarre meltdown game from the Raiders offense for the Rams defense to see much opportunity to produce well in this game.
The Raiders ($5200 DK, $10000 FD) is not good, but the Rams offense is easily worse yet in its field all the same. Even the league's worst defenses could look good against the Rams' ragtag bunch of preseason players, and the Raiders might make an example of how that works in this setting. The Rams' options are awful at all of quarterback, offensive line and pass catching. If the Raiders defense screws this up it would be embarrassing for them indeed.
