The Oakland Raiders finally get to come home for a Sunday as they host the New York Jets in their home opener. The Raiders are 1-1 after a brutal loss to the Buffalo Bills that saw serious offensive fireworks in a 38-35 shootout. While Darren McFadden had a big day with two touchdowns, the breakout star of the game was wide receiver Denarius Moore who caught five receptions for 146 yards and a touchdown. Rookies will have their ups and downs, but Moore looked awfully impressive in going up after the ball over and over again.
Naturally, Moore was a big waiver wire pickup this week. The question now is what to do with the young receiver in your fantasy lineup. If you're willing to roll the dice and can accept the downs with the ups, it'll be fun rooting for him. If you want some measure of sanity in your lineup, you might want to wait for some week-to-week consistency.
START
Darren McFadden
numberFire.com Projections: 11.90 FP - 68.91 rushing yards, 0.26 rushing touchdowns, 3.12 receptions, 22.34 receiving yards, 0.20 receiving touchdowns
Analysis: McFadden remains a must start as long as he's healthy. The Jets have a strong defense, but their weakest are would be against the run (albeit still solid). McFadden is mixed into the run and pass game, which means more opportunities for yards and touchdowns. Stick with him.
Sebastian Janikowski
numberFire.com Projections: 7.11 FP - 1.49 FGM, 2.04 XPM
Analysis: Just plug and play with Seabass. He'll have some off nights like any kicker, but the Raiders are putting up a whole lot of points right now. Even though the Raiders kicked no field goals last week, Janikowski still got five points just from extra points.
Denarius Moore
numberFire.com Projections: 5.98 FP - 3.57 receptions, 53.55 receiving yards 0.16 touchdowns
Analysis: Just man up and start him. He's a rookie and he could go catch-less. But do you want to be the guy who repeatedly sits him while he blows up week in and week out? Why not have a little fun with an exciting new playmaker? Throw in a lack of healthy receivers and you may be looking at the number one Raiders receiver this weekend.
SIT
Jacoby Ford
Analysis: Ford has been held out of practice the last two days and is looking unlikely to play on Sunday
Michael Bush
numberFire.com Projections: 3.35 FP - 18.10 rushing yards, 0.15 touchdowns
Analysis: Michael Bush remains no more than a handcuff for Darren McFadden at this point. Even a big game or two will not change that as long as McFadden stays healthy.
Our weekly Raiders sit/start suggestions are based on a combination of our knowledge as fans and the weekly projections of numberFire.com. Head over to numberFire.com to get a full breakdown of their weekly projections.