Derek Carr, Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree's Post-Week 7 Fantasy Advice

If the Oakland Raiders ever find a measure of consistency, their fans and fantasy players everywhere will be ecstatic. The trio of quarterback Derek Carr, wide receivers Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree racked up impressive numbers in a 37-29 victory over San Diego. 

Since NFL teams rise and fall based on quarterback play, let's start with what Carr was able to do in the victory. 

COMP-ATT	Yards	TD-INT	YPA	QB Rating
24-31	289	3-0	9.3	137.7

If you weren't buying in on Carr yet, now is the time to start. Since opening the season against Cincinnati without a touchdown pass, he's had 11 in the last five games with just three interceptions. 

Former Raiders star linebacker Bill Romanowski was very impressed with what he saw from the second-year star:

There were signs last season that Carr was on the verge of becoming a capable starting quarterback, though the jury was out on his fantasy value. He had seven touchdowns and one interception over the last four games in 2014.

Yahoo Sports' preseason fantasy rankings didn't even have Carr listed among the top 25 quarterbacks for standard scoring leagues. Colin Kaepernick and Jay Cutler were ahead on that list, by the way. 

Even in games where Carr hasn't played great this season, he's held his own. For instance, last week against Denver, the former Fresno State standout completed 67 percent of his passes for 249 yards with one touchdown and one interception. 

Considering Denver entered Week 7 with the third-ranked pass defense and tied for the NFL lead with just five passing touchdowns allowed, Carr's performance looks even better in retrospect. 

During a press conference earlier this week, per Scott Bair of Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, Chargers head coach Mike McCoy compared Carr favorably to his own quarterback:

"

You love the way he—very similar to Philip—doesn’t hide a lot on the football field. He goes out there, he competes his tail off. He loves to play the game. You love the energy he plays with. He can make every throw, make plays with his feet, avoid pressure when it gets there, and a very talented player.

"

Coming into the Week, Carr was only owned in one-third of ESPN leagues. That number should change dramatically soon, as he's worthy of being a starting fantasy option right now. 

Now, let's see how the wide receiver duo benefited from Carr's play:

Player	Targets	Receptions	Yards	TD
Amari Cooper	6	5	133	1
Michael Crabtree	8	6	63	1

It turns out that getting two talented wide receivers can be just what a young quarterback needs, as Cooper and Crabtree are making life easy for Carr. 

Starting with Cooper—since he had the big game in Week 7—he's reached a point where it's time to start him every week. The rookie from Alabama now has three 100-yard receiving games and has caught touchdowns in three of the last five games. 

Cooper is also capable of making spectacular plays when it looks like nothing is available, as seen in the NFL's Twitter video below:

He's also been consistent, never catching fewer than four passes in a game thus far. Next week will be a challenge because the New York Jets have a deep secondary and will likely keep Revis on the rookie, so don't expect a repeat performance of Week 7, but a solid effort nonetheless. 

Crabtree is proving that his problems in San Francisco were more the result of injuries and poor quarterback play. The former first-round pick leads the Raiders in targets (56) and has been the perfect complement to Cooper. 

There's also some big-play ability left in Crabtree, even though he's never been the fastest wideout. He has six receptions of at least 20 yards after adding a 25-yard catch on Sunday. That's one more than Odell Beckham Jr. has for the New York Giants. 

Crabtree is best used as a WR2 or flex player at this point in his career, though that's not an indictment of how well he's played for Oakland. It's just hard to go all-in on the No. 2 option unless he is playing with one of the NFL's elite quarterbacks.