Pittsburgh Steelers Fantasy Football: Taking a risk on the Oakland Raiders heading into the playoffs

The fantasy football playoffs are upon us. See who you should consider playing during the Pittsburgh Steelers Week 14 matchup with the Raiders.

The fantasy playoffs are here and you will need to know who to play and who not to play. I have a list of players I recommend to start or sit for the Raiders. This season has not been kind to the Raiders as new coach Jon Gruden arrived and cleaned house. It is hard to compete when you give away your best defensive player and best WR. With that being said, you can probably guess what my list will consist of. It has been another terrible season for the Raiders.

Here are my recommendations for this struggling team from Oakland;

Start

Jared Cook – The Steelers do not have good coverage LB’s and were exploited last week by the Chargers. Cook is having a great season and has scored a TD the last three straight games.

Sit

Derek Carr – What a horrendous season this has been!  Carr has failed to throw for more than 200 yards in three of the last 6 games and two of the last three. He did have a good game against KC last week with three TD passes but I would not trust him in your fantasy playoffs.

Doug Martin – Martin had a season-high 18 carries last week but only managed 61 yards and if it wasn’t for the TD he would have only totaled 6 PPR points. The Steelers Defense is a top ten unit against the run.

Jalen Richard/DeAndre Washington – The receiving backs are not scoring enough for consideration. Richard actually rushed for 95 yards last week but it only equaled 13 PPR points, he could be started as a flex option but only scored 3 points in week 12. Washington has not scored more than 4 points all year

Jordy Nelson – Last week Nelson had 10 receptions for 97 yards but he hasn’t had double-digit scoring since week 5.

Seth Roberts/Marcel Ateman – Who knows who the other WR’s are or who will get the most targets? I am just assuming that it is Roberts or Ateman who haven’t had more than 5 catches in a game all year.

Raiders Defense – Without Khalil Mack they just don’t have that playmaker your defense needs. It has shown all year and in ESPN scoring they are dead last. In five games this year they have zero points and four more games of only 1-3 points in the same scoring system. Yikes!

The playoffs are here and the Raiders are not a team you want to invest in during the postseason. The only viable starter here is the TE, and that position has been utterly abhorrent this year. If you find yourself having to start anyone else I suggest you only do so in a flex or desperation play.