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The Raiders are getting good at shipping away star talent. And they also are getting good at collecting first-round draft picks.
Oakland will trade struggling wideout Amari Cooper to the receiver-starved Cowboys in exchange for a 2019 first-round draft pick, according to multiple reports Monday. This comes just a month after the Raiders sent All-Pro pass rusher Khalil Mack to the Bears for a first-rounder. Including their own pick, the Raiders now will have three picks in the first round of next year’s draft.
Cooper will land on a Dallas team in desperate need of a wide receiver. But fantasy owners will tell you he has been among the most frustrating players in recent history.
You draft him each year based on talent and his potential in an offense with up-and-coming quarterback Derek Carr. You play him expecting production. He fails to deliver week in and week out. Finally, you sit him, and he goes haywire. You have renewed confidence, put him back in the lineup, and he resumes his disappointing habits for weeks and weeks.
Well, the good news is the fantasy community is about to find out if the problem with Cooper’s inconsistency is Cooper, or if the problem was coaching or quarterback or just a bad Oakland environment.
It is hard to declare with clarity the fantasy ramifications of the deal because of Cooper’s wild inconsistency, and because the Cowboys offense, at least the passing game, has been more dysfunctional than the Raiders.
It could be a ripple — Cooper continues his roller-coaster output and the Dallas offensive production is minimally affected. Or it could be a tidal wave — Cooper could be the missing piece. We see Cooper’s arrival opening up other viable options in the passing game — like Cole Beasley and Michael Gallup — and making QB Dak Prescott more trustworthy as a low-end fantasy option. And Cooper will help lure defenses away from the line of scrimmage, creating more room for Ezekiel Elliott and the running game.
We’ve seen Prescott perform solidly as an NFL quarterback. His performance went in the tank in unison with the loss of Elliott and injuries to the offensive line last season, and now this season he has struggled without a top-tier receiving talent. Cooper solves that problem.
The Cowboys have a bye then are at Tennessee in Week 9. Barring credible reports of an incredibly quick transition by Cooper, our first target date for using Cooper in our lineup is Week 10 versus the Eagles.
The impact of this deal won’t be limited to just Cooper’s new Cowboys teammates. There will be waves in Oakland as well. The team won’t just suddenly stop throwing. Passes still will be thrown. Some of them will even be caught. Some of those catches will even be made by Raiders.
Jordy Nelson becomes more valuable. Seth Roberts and Martavis Bryant appear on the fantasy radar. Carr and the running game are largely unaffected, because Cooper wasn’t making a big impact anyway.
We think he will now, only in a different uniform.
Grab & stash
Jalen Richard RB, Raiders
Doug Martin will inherit the bulk of the Marshawn Lynch role. But we prefer Richard, considering a tanking team often will be trailing, and Richard is a passing-down back.
Rashaad Penny, Seahawks
Coming out of a bye, Penny is widely available. Chris Carson and Mike Davis are in his way, but by fantasy playoff time, we expect the rookie to have stolen much of the workload.
Danny Amendola WR, Dolphins
He has caught 14 passes for 143 yards and a TD over the past two weeks with Brock Osweiler — after averaging 3.2 catches and 30.2 yards in five games with Ryan Tannehill. No timetable for Tannehill’s return.
C.J. Uzomah TE, Bengals
Still widely available, and has Buccaneers this week — who have allowed a tight end TD four straight games.
Bail or sell
Blake Bortles QB, Jaguars
Whether he remains the Jacksonville starter or not is irrelevant. He is bad. So bad. He can’t even get his garbage-time numbers like he used to. Just so bad.
Dion Lewis/Derrick Henry RB, Titans
Tennessee running game has been a fantasy quagmire. Both had their best outputs of the season. They’re too valuable to drop, so try to trade coming off the good game.
Royce Freeman RB, Broncos
We’re not as worried about his ankle woes as we are his production woes. He has a 2.7 yards-per-carry average over the past two games (22-for-59). Phillip Lindsay deserves more carries.
Jermaine Kearse WR, Jets
He was valuable as a Quincy Enunwa fill-in for what was thought to be a high floor. Had a doughnut Sunday. Floors don’t get any lower.
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