Las Vegas Raiders vs. Seattle Seahawks Fantasy Football Matchup Breakdown For Week 10

Welcome to the NFL, Fernando Mendoza! Last year’s 1.01 debuts in another battle of backup quarterbacks between teams with much greater talent disparity and playoff aspirations than their seemingly similar records may suggest.

Raiders vs. Seahawks Matchup Breakdown For Week 10 Fantasy Football

• Spread: Seahawks -6.5
• Total: 40.5
• Score Prediction (from our NFL Betting Game Model): SEA 23, LV 17

*Fantasy Football Rankings listed are Fantasy Life's half-PPR consensus ranks at the time of writing.

Seattle Seahawks Fantasy Preview For Week 10

Eternal hat tip to Seattle HC Mike Macdonald and the entire front office for understanding the importance of a representative backup QB in this league. Sam Darnold essentially missed three games already this season, and the Seahawks managed victories in all three. Sounds good. Is Drew Lock some superstar threatening the future starting job? No, nor does he have to be. However, at 0.31 EPA/dropback, 71.1% completion, 116.0 passer rating, and a 7.9 passer rating, there’s no discernible dropoff or change in scheme needed to keep the buses on schedule. Unfortunately, Lock’s dealing with a UCL issue which may have acted as a limiting factor against Arizona, because we’d definitely want to start him versus the Raiders — it’s easily a bottom-3 defense amidst a six-game run allowing +30 points.

Always a suboptimal spot for fantasy managers when Seattle’s in a great situation to score. Between an overly hyperfocused passing scheme centered solely around Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11.0 targets/game, 33.7 target/route, 3.52 yards/route, 88.6% WOPR) and a league-leading defense in yards/play allowed (4.1), there’s little need to push the offense hard enough to get multiple players home. Now, they’re facing a debuting rookie? Feels like more of the same for the pass-catching room, if you ask. Last note: AJ Barner’s goal-line usage this season makes him a perfect one-and-done streamer in spots like this. Now up to three end zone targets and three goal-line rushes, deliberate usage around the paint’s always worthy of attention at a shallow position where that one touch could translate to a top-12 finish.  

If every reaction creates an equal and opposite reaction, that same Barner utilization around the goal line is very much a condemnation of the existing RB room. Zach Charbonnet’s back commanding the lion’s share of carries, with Jadarian Price earning +15% of team targets in Week 9 — something the prospectors told us he’d be wholly incapable of this offseason. Nevertheless, Charbonnet in a baseline role without the goal-to-go stuff in front of Price in a split yet limited passing role essentially cancels them both out of fantasy consideration. Again, the soft matchup’s too tempting to outright ignore, so I’m deferring to Dwain’s inimitable projection work, placing Charbonnet at RB20 based on a solid floor expectation.

• Start: Zach Charbonnet (RB20), Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR1)
• Sit: Jadarian Price (RB27), Cooper Kupp (WR62)
• Sleeper: Drew Lock (QB14), AJ Barner (TE29)

Las Vegas Raiders Fantasy Preview For Week 10

Talk about hopping out of the frying pan and into the fire. Fernando Mendoza, the league’s first overall draft pick, gets his first start and true taste of the league against one of its most difficult defensive units. It would’ve been difficult enough to predict this outcome under normal circumstances, let alone facing a Seattle D that just held Patrick Mahomes to three points in a (165-0-1) flop. Mendoza did drop back nine times late in relief versus New England, looking poised and accurate for whatever that’s worth (spoiler, not much). How dominant is this Seahawks’ defense exactly? Not only do they allow the fewest yards per game (244.3) and per play (4.1), it’s like an order of magnitude better than the field — the next best team sits at 280.0 and 4.8, respectively. Think about that disparity.

If we thought choosing a second pass catcher after the inevitable Brock Bowers (10.0 targets/game, 27.6 target/route, 2.59 yards/route) was difficult enough when attached to a competent passer like Kirk Cousins, where does that leave us now? Answer’s not pretty for this weekend at least. Seattle creates the NFL’s second-highest pressure rate behind Minnesota, so I’d anticipate extra bodies around the line to help protect Mendoza. Translation? An extraordinarily high target share split between Tre Tucker and Brock Bowers, the only reliable route-runners left on the depth chart. Just keep in mind Seattle’s allowing the fewest PPR points/game to both WRs (13.3) and TEs (5.3) for a reason …

Las Vegas’ rushing metrics remain so impossibly poor (-0.19 EPA/attempt, 2.9 yards/carry, 2.41 yards after contact/rush, 37.8% success, 4.1% explosive rush rate) that even if we knew one player would dominate touches, it’s tough to start anyone with confidence. Klint Kubiak followed up Mike Washington’s Week 8 26-carry explosion by splitting carries right down the middle with Ashton Jeanty (six apiece). LV’s all too willing to abandon the run altogether, which should bode well for Jeanty’s already elevated 17.6% target share — though even his extremely tempting receiving upside takes a hit in this spot. And it’s not like things will get any easier at Mile High against the Broncos in Week 11. If you told me it’s Bowers or bust for fantasy circles, expect no pushback from me.

• Start: Ashton Jeanty (RB21), Brock Bowers (TE3)
• Sit: Fernando Mendoza (QB25), Michael Mayer (TE33)
• Sleeper: Tre Tucker (WR49)