Las Vegas Raiders Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Insider Albert Breer calls Raiders RB Ameer Abdullah a "camp revelation" and believes he's set to play the James White role in HC Josh McDaniels' offense. Abdullah quietly caught 35 balls in 11 games for the Panthers last year and tested as an 87th percentile athlete prior to getting drafted in 2015. Vegas' backfield is murky right now, but if Abdullah is truly pegged for the "James White role," it'd be bad news for RB Josh Jacobs and would leave RB Kenyan Drake undraftable.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler believes Titans TE Austin Hooper “should see a healthy red-zone [target] share.” Hooper’s never topped 6 TDs in a season. But he joined a Titans squad this summer that lost ~45 red zone targets to trade (A.J. Brown) and free agency. QB Ryan Tannehill has also posted a top-3 TD rate in 2 of the past 3 seasons (2019 and 2020). Ultimately, Hooper enters the year as a TE2.

The Athletic's Tashan Reed believes that, among the Raiders' RBs, rookie Zamir White "is the closest to pushing [Josh] Jacobs for his role as the lead back." White looked good in his NFL debut in last week's Hall of Fame Game, running 11 times for 52 yards and catching 3 of 4 targets for 23 yards. "This guy just plays hard. He loves football," HC Josh McDaniels said. "You saw how he finishes runs. He’s a physical player. He’s a tough guy; he adds that element to our team." We'd still consider White a long shot to overtake Jacobs as Vegas' lead back this season. But White could earn a big enough role to dent Jacobs' fantasy value.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that the Raiders “are not looking to trade [RB] Josh Jacobs.” Speaking on Jacobs’ extended action in the Hall of Fame Game, Rapoport says that it was simply a case of the new coaching staff wanting to evaluate its lead back. We'll see how his usage looks over the next few weeks.

We saw some funky usage in the Raiders backfield in Thursday night's Hall of Fame game. QB Derek Carr, WR Davante Adams and TE Darren Waller got the night off, but RB Josh Jacobs played the first 2 series, tallying 5 carries and 2 targets. "I always think it's good for (running) backs to carry the ball in the preseason," HC Josh McDaniels said afterward. “There’s a lot of things that happen when you’re getting tackled and hit that you can’t simulate in practice." Ameer Abdullah and Zamir White were the next 2 RBs in the game for the Raiders -- then came Kenyan Drake. We're not going to read too much into any of this just yet, but we're definitely keeping a closer eye on this backfield going forward.

49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo has been cleared to practice after offseason shoulder surgery. "He has no restrictions and I’m watching him throw out here right now," GM John Lynch said. "He looks pretty good." With the 'Niners turning the offense over to QB Trey Lance this year, Garoppolo has been working separately from the rest of the team. We'll see if a trade materializes ahead of Week 1.

New Titans TE Austin Hooper has been getting extra reps with QB Ryan Tannehill after practice. "Chemistry is just repetitions over time," he told reporters afterward. Titans TEs have disappointed with their target shares over the past couple of years, and Hooper might face a challenge from buzzy rookie TE Chig Okonkwo. But he also faces nice opportunity in a Tennessee offense that traded away WR A.J. Brown and released WR Julio Jones since last season. Hooper has consistently gone in TE3 range of drafts.

Raiders RB Zamir White has missed the start of training camp with an undisclosed injury. The rookie shouldn’t be out for long, though. Citing a source, Tashan Reed of The Athletic wrote today that White is expected to practice “within the next week.” We’ll keep tabs on his progress upon returning.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that 49ers (still) QB Jimmy Garoppolo recently had a checkup with Dr. Neal ElAttrache and is "progressing well." Rapport added that the Niners are "thrilled with where he is physically." Garoppolo has reportedly been throwing for about 4 weeks and is expected to gain full clearance to return from his right-shoulder injury in mid-August. We'll see whether this is enough to jumpstart the QB's trade market.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, “the expectation within the league” remains that 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo will be traded by August 1. A recent report suggested that the Bucs made a play for Garoppolo, but his agent (Don Yee) shot that down. Unsurprisingly, Yee also claimed that his client is “progressing well and on schedule” from offseason shoulder surgery.

49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo "remains on schedule" in his rehab from March shoulder surgery and is expected to resume throwing in early July, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reports. HC Kyle Shanahan straight-up said a month ago that he expects Garoppolo to be traded once this shoulder issue is behind him. Carolina seems like his most likely landing spot.

It doesn't sound like The Athletic's Joe Buscaglia expects O.J. Howard to push Dawson Knox for the Bills' starting TE job. "Howard has not looked like the dynamic pass catcher he was when he was a first-round pick out of Alabama in 2017," Buscaglia writes. "He also looks like he can be an excellent blocker for 12 personnel while still offering a pass-catching threat. But his movement skills are well below what Knox brings to the table." We'll keep an eye on this situation in August, but we bumped Knox up the TE Rankings and Howard down.

Raiders WR Hunter Renfrow has agreed to a 2-year, $32 million extension, including $21 million guaranteed. That locks Renfrow in with the team through 2024. The commitment confirms that we should expect Renfrow to remain central to the passing offense under new HC Josh McDaniels. Of course, there's still the matter of Davante Adams arriving to a group that also continues to feature TE Darren Waller. So the specific target distribution remains to be seen. But there's room for Renfrow to produce at a WR3 level in PPR formats.

Bucs beat writer Joey Knight believes WR Tyler Johnson “faces fierce competition for a roster spot.” Johnson, 24 in August, posted just 36-360-0 last season. While the WR4 job is up for grabs, we’re not drafting any Tampa Bay WR not named Mike Evans, Chris Godwin or Russell Gage.

Raiders RB Josh Jacobs sat out OTA practices the past 2 weeks with an undisclosed injury, according to Marcus Mosher of Raiders Wire. "Because it’s still voluntary OTAs, it’s probably not worth getting too concerned about," Mosher writes. "But if Jacobs doesn’t practice in some capacity during next week’s mandatory minicamp, then it might be time to worry." We'll keep an eye on the situation.

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan still believes QB Jimmy Garoppolo will be traded. "I expect at sometime, most likely, he’ll be traded but, who knows,” Shanahan said of the veteran passer. “That’s not a guarantee. It went on hold when it (surgery) happened. When he’s healthy we’ll see what happens.” Carolina and Seattle make the most sense as potential landing spots. But this has the potential to drag out for months.

The Raiders signed WR Keelan Cole to a 1-year deal. The 29-year-old tallied 748 yards as an undrafted rookie back in 2017 but hasn't topped that number since. He's coming off a 28-449-1 line for the Jets last season. In Vegas, Cole will battle WRs Bryan Edwards and Demarcus Robinson for scraps behind Davante Adams, Hunter Renfrow and Darren Waller. Cole remains off the fantasy radar.

Vic Tafur of The Athletic believes there’s a “good chance" RB Zamir White will start for Las Vegas in 2023. Josh Jacobs and Kenyan Drake enter contract years, although White joins the league with uninspiring draft capital (mid-Round 4 as the RB8). Vegas did trade up to land the Georgia product. He brings a nice speed/power combo to go along with a 6’0, 214-pound frame. Just don’t expect much of an impact in redraft leagues.

The Raiders chose Georgia RB Zamir White in Round 4 of the NFL Draft. White hit Georgia as a heralded prospect. An ACL tear in the summer before his true freshman campaign slowed his progress, though – and came shortly after a tear to his other ACL that ended his final high school season. White wound up leading the Georgia backfield in carries the past 2 years, averaging 5.4 yards per rush each year. But he watched teammates claim most of the receiving work and beat him in rushing efficiency. White’s 4.4-second 40 at the Combine points to rushing upside, but we see a limited fantasy ceiling here. He’ll struggle to unseat RB Josh Jacobs this year, although Jacobs is currently set to hit free agency next offseason.

The Raiders declined the 5th-year option on RB Josh Jacobs. Such a move would have cost the team $8 million in 2023. Jacobs, 24, heads into his 4th season fresh off an RB11 finish.