Week 11 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Oakland Raiders Will Lift Your Fantasy Football Team

The Oakland Raiders, currently in first place in the AFC West and one of the great stories of the 2011 NFL season, could just as easily get your fledgling fantasy football team to the top of your league or widen your lead if you're already there.

How is that, you ask? Three names: Michael Bush, Carson Palmer and Denarius Moore. Those three players have served as the engine behind the Silver and Black's survival in a dogged division, and will do the same for your squad if you let them.

Michael Bush

It all begins with Bush. The fourth-year slugger out of Louisville has put his size and strength to tremendous use since Darren McFadden went down with a foot injury against the Chiefs, piling up 482 total yards and two touchdowns in that span.

McFadden is expected to miss his third game in a row on Sunday, thereby leaving Bush to carry the load in Oakland's run-first offense. A matchup with the Vikings and their sixth-ranked run defense may not seem like such a boon for Bush's production, though that won't necessarily keep the Raiders from letting him try.

Either way, Bush will get enough touches, both as a runner and a receiver, to at least approach 100 total yards from scrimmage, and if the Raiders manage to get close to Minnesota's goal line, it'll be Bush who gets the first (and second and third) crack at punching the ball in for a touchdown.

Carson Palmer

It's understandable to be trepidatious about starting Carson Palmer, especially after he's thrown for seven picks against five touchdowns in his short stint in a Raiders uniform.

But look closer and you'll see a quarterback who's averaging better than 300 yards passing per game as a starter in Oakland who sports the sort of outstanding arm strength that will help to enliven the Silver and Black's vertical passing game.

It certainly helps Palmer's case—at least for this week—that Minnesota's pass defense, already ranked 30th against the pass and with just six picks to its credit, will be out the rest of the season with a broken clavicle. Palmer also looked much more comfortable running the Raiders' offense against the Chargers last Thursday night and figures to have an even better handle of things with every week of preparation that comes and goes.

Denarius Moore

So, just about everything that goes for Palmer also goes for Denarius Moore, if not doubly so. Jacoby Ford is expected to sit while nursing a foot sprain he suffered against San Diego. 

Moore had already emerged as Palmer's favorite target, thanks to his speed and ability to operate as a deep threat, and will only find greater opportunity now that he'll have one fewer competitor for attention on his own team.

He may not end up with 123 yards and two touchdowns against the Vikings like he did against the Chargers, but with Antoine Winfield out and Minny's pass defense being as soft as previously mentioned, that sort of productivity wouldn't exactly be a shock, either.