Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree, Derek Carr's Post-Week 2 Fantasy Advice

The Oakland Raiders faced a difficult matchup against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2 of the NFL season, but that didn’t stop the passing attack from racking up impressive numbers on the way to a 37-33 victory.

That is music to the ears of fantasy owners relying on quarterback Derek Carr and wide receivers Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree. Here is a look at their final stats from Sunday’s game:

Completions	Passing Yards	Passing Touchdowns	Interceptions	Rushing Yards	Fantasy Points
30-of-46	351	3	1	23	26.34

Player	Catches	Receiving Yards	Touchdown Catches	Yards Per Catch	Targets	Fantasy Points
Amari Cooper	7	109	1	15.6	11	16.9
Michael Crabtree	9	111	1	12.3	16	17.1

Carr and Cooper wasted little time making a fantasy impact Sunday when they connected for a 68-yard touchdown pass down the sidelines within the first three minutes of the game. The NFL shared a highlight of the opening score:

Considering Carr was questionable coming into Sunday’s contest with a thumb injury, the fact he threw a deep touchdown pass was a relief for fantasy owners gambling on his production. He looked comfortable in the pocket and hit Cooper in stride with the pass, which is something Raiders fans would love to see every week moving forward.

Before overreacting to one solid game, though, it is important to point out Carr looked lost in the season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals before his injury.

In all, he posted 61 passing yards and didn’t find the end zone. He at least didn’t turn the ball over, which is important for a young quarterback still finding his footing at the NFL level.

Carr threw for a solid 3,270 yards and 21 touchdowns last year, although he only posted one single game over 300 passing yards (against the Cleveland Browns in a losing effort). It was a promising showing in the first half against Baltimore, but fantasy owners need to wait for him to establish a track record before starting him after an up-and-down rookie campaign.

Fantasy owners may not need to wait for that track record with Cooper based on overwhelming talent alone.

He only notched 47 receiving yards in the loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, but the passing game as a whole never got anything rolling. It took Cooper all of two showings to look like the game-breaker so many expected, which is a problem for Oakland’s future opponents.

The fourth overall pick from Alabama put up 1,727 receiving yards and 16 touchdown catches as a Heisman Trophy finalist and the Fred Biletnikoff Award winner in his final collegiate effort largely by making plays like the one fans saw Sunday.

On paper, he is the clear-cut No. 1 option in a passing offense that finished an abysmal 26th without him in 2014, although Crabtree’s presence could cut into Cooper’s targets. That also means opposing secondaries cannot afford to automatically double the Alabama rookie, so Cooper should face plenty of single coverage like what he beat for the score Sunday.

Crabtree doesn’t have the upside that Cooper does, but he is a proven commodity who can serve as a safety blanket for the second-year signal-caller, Carr. Crabtree is not that far removed from a 2012 season that saw him tally 1,105 yards and nine touchdown catches, and he boasts double-digit yards per catch every season of his career.

Crabtree is an ideal complementary piece for Cooper because he thrives on underneath routes near the first-down markers. If he does that and Cooper beats cornerbacks deep with an impressive catch radius at 6’1” and the speed to create separation during routes and after the catch, the Raiders should have a better passing attack this season. 

What’s more, both are on the field plenty, which increases their chances at targets, as Steve Corkran of RaiderBeat.com illustrated in Week 1:

Targets were not an issue for either pass-catcher Sunday.

That was in a blowout loss, too, when the Raiders likely didn’t want to risk their receivers’ health late in the fourth quarter.

What’s more, Oakland was dead last in the league in scoring defense in 2014 and allowed 33 points to the Bengals during the 2015 opener. Thanks to that defense, the Raiders will likely find themselves playing from behind throughout the season, which is good news for the fantasy values of Carr and the pass-catchers.

Oakland will throw the ball plenty, Crabtree has a proven track record and Cooper looks like a potential star in the making.

Wait until Carr looks better than his solid, but inconsistent, production from 2014, but you should feel safe inserting either receiver in your lineup at this point.