Derek Carr's, Mychal Rivera's Instant Fantasy Reaction Following Week 9

The Oakland Raiders came back as a heavy road underdog to make their Week 9 matchup with the Seattle Seahawks respectable but ultimately fell to 0-8 with a 30-24 loss at CenturyLink Field.

One silver lining to the disheartening bottom-line result was the combination of Raiders rookie quarterback Derek Carr and dynamic tight end Mychal Rivera.

Name	PASS	YDS	TD/INT	Fantasy Points
Name	REC	YDS	TD	Fantasy Points
Derek Carr	24/41	194	2/2	11
Mychal Rivera	8	38	2	15

The pair combined for two second-half touchdowns, and Rivera led Oakland with 11 targets—six more than his closest competitor. Both those scores were from just one yard away, and the last came inside the final two minutes, when Seattle had built a two-possession lead and were in little danger of losing.

Both Carr and Rivera still have so much room to grow as players, so neither should be relied upon as viable fantasy football commodities just yet.

Unless Oakland figures out a way to utilize Carr's underrated athleticism and speed better in the game plan—similar to how Miami is doing with Ryan Tannehill now, with great success—his fantasy potential is limited.

Although he showed signs of brilliance, the first-year player in Carr surfaced on Sunday as well, as ESPN's Bill Williamson observed:

Williamson is referring to the preseason finale, when Carr fared quite well against Seattle's vaunted defense. Star Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman spoke about the young signal-caller's rather fearless attitude before Week 9.

"He's a gunslinger," said Sherman, via ESPN.com's Terry Blount. "They've made him throw the ball a little bit more in these past couple of games. I don't know if that has something to do with the score or schematically, but they've done a good job. He's done a good job of taking care of the ball for the most part."

Carr has a cannon but doesn't get a lot of time in the pocket, is still learning the nuances of preparing and reading NFL defenses and has had a low yards-per-pass-attempt average. A conservative-by-nature game plan detracts from Carr's bid to be a consistent QB2 fantasy play.

Playing against the Seahawks' "Legion of Boom" secondary is no easy task, so Carr did a respectable job away from home under the circumstances. Absent a competent rushing attack to support him, Carr did what he could, and Rivera was a big beneficiary.

Stephen Brashear/Associated Press

But Rivera's explosiveness is limited, at least to this early point in his career. A meager yards-per-catch average on Sunday should have been expected, since he'd averaged under 10 yards per grab on 20 previous receptions.

CSNCalifornia.com's Scott Bair hinted that Rivera struggles to string together stellar play in his analysis of Sunday's action, too:

The good news is that Rivera followed up a seven-catch, 83-yard outing in Cleveland last week with another nice showcase in Seattle.

Perhaps sometime down the road, hopefully for Raiders fans, the tandem of Carr and Rivera can help carry Oakland into a promising new era. That day just has not arrived yet. Thus, don't expect many monster outings from Carr as he wraps up his maiden season as a pro.

Rivera is the best waiver-wire pickup option due to how difficult it can be to find pass-catching tight ends. Fantasy owners just shouldn't set their expectations too high.