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11/7/19 Week 10

Los Angeles Chargers Vs. Oakland Raiders

By: Joulian Wilmer

Week 10 Thursday Night Football is here and with it comes an AFC West duel between the (4-5) Chargers and the (4-4) Raiders. Los Angeles has won the past four matchups so naturally, Oakland will look to put a stop to this trend and hand their division rival an L. The Chiefs are atop the division so both teams will be looking to edge closer to the top spot in the West, granting this matchup even more importance. The showdown will take place at RingCentral Coliseum in Oakland at 8:20 PM, a Thursday Night game definitely worth tuning into.

There are some injuries worth noting on both sides which may or may not influence your fantasy decisions in week 10. The Raiders will be missing two defensive ends as Josh Mauro and Arden Kay will be out for this contest making the already weak Raider pass rush even weaker. The offensive line has some question marks as center Rodney Hudson and right tackle Trent Brown are listed as questionable for the matchup, adding some uncertainty to the line if either is forced to miss the game after a short week.

For the Chargers, defensive tackles Justin Jones and Cortez Broughton have been ruled out for the contest, DT Brandon Mebane is questionable, and linebacker Denzel Perryman is going to be a game-time decision, all of which would hurt the Chargers run defense if the group can’t suit up. Offensive tackle Sam Tevi is also listed as questionable and if he isn’t able to take the field Trent Scott will replace him. Running back Justin Jackson is doubtful but this won’t change much at all in the Los Angeles backfield as Melvin Gordon and Ekeler run the show.

For fantasy purposes, I am going to start with QB and make my way across the board to offer some suggestions regarding start and sits. Someone I would look to have in my starting roster would be Ol’ Philip Rivers as he has been playing like his usual “middle of the pack” self, but this week he will be playing a Raiders defense that is ranked worst in the league at defending the QB position (according to ESPN). Last week Matthew Stafford put up monster numbers against Oakland and the same should apply to Rivers coming into this Thursday Night matchup.

As of late, Derek Carr has been putting up better numbers (7 passing TD’s in his past 3 games) but coming up against a defense that performs quite well against opposing QBs, I would look to leave him out of my starting lineup. If you are desperate, you definitely could do worse than Carr, but I’d look to explore other options if possible.

The running back position for LA gets quite interesting as both guys (Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler) have proved they are capable to produce even when both are in the lineup. I would feel comfortable starting either RBs as Oakland’s run defense isn’t spectacular and it looks like they may be missing some key guys on the line and at the linebacker position. The Oakland running game is a different can of worms as only one guy runs the show there and it’s Josh Jacobs. Oakland has shown they have no problem relying heavily on Jacobs as he has had 15 or more carries in 6 out of 8 games this season. Start Jacobs without hesitation against a subpar Chargers rush defense that is ranked 23rd worst at stopping the run (according to ESPN).

Philip Rivers is a good play against this defense which also means his wide receivers should share in the glory. The Raiders D is the 31st worst in the league against opposing wideouts and this trend should continue this week when Keenan Allen and Mike Williams take the field. Start Keenan Allen as usual and Mike Williams should be a plugin this week too as both should thrive against a porous Oakland secondary.

As for Oakland’s wideouts, this one gets a little tougher as the Chargers have done well this season against opposing wideouts ranking 8th best against them thus far this season. I would still go ahead and start a healthy Tyrell Williams as he should continue to be a touchdown machine scoring a TD in every game this season besides one. Hunter Renfrow has been performing better the past two games (he has 142 yards and 2 TDs in the past two games) but I would most likely stay away from him unless you are really getting killed by byes this week. The past two weeks Renfrow has shown improved chemistry with Carr, but his first six games showed that he could also go mostly forgotten in the Oakland passing game. I would start Renfrow only if you really don’t have any other options.

As for the tight end position, I would go ahead and plug in Hunter Henry as now that he is healthy, he is proving why he was ranked so high in most analysts TE rankings, putting up less than 80 yards in only one of his past 4 games. On Oaklands side, Darren Waller has been a pleasant surprise for any owner who drafted him this year and you should likely start him again this week, even against a Chargers defense that is quite good at defending opposing tight ends.

As for the defenses, I would likely stay away from both this week for a few reasons. Even though the Chargers D hasn’t been terrible this season, they really aren’t translating their play into fantasy points and Oakland’s offense has actually been quite good against opposing defenses this season. Oakland is ranked 10th in points per drive and has let up the fewest pressures to the QB position in the entire AFC this season (according to ESPN). Oakland’s defense has been very lackluster this season and this week I would go ahead and avoid them again. Those are my suggestions coming into this week 10 Thursday Night matchup and if you follow these you should wake up quite happy on Friday with whatever decisions you make.



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By: Joulian Wilmer

