Loading...
We use cookies for analytics and (eventually) advertising to keep TheFantasyPicks free. See our Privacy Policy.
Sponsored affiliate link.
Player photos courtesy of ESPN.
Ranking moves, risers and fallers, and new posts. Free, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Las Vegas trailed Houston 20-3 midway through the third quarter at Reliant Stadium and still walked out with a 22-20 win, scoring 19 unanswered points capped by an Aidan O'Connell touchdown run with the Raiders' backup kicker having already missed two straight extra points. That specific detail matters more than the final score: a game decided by two points after two missed PATs is exactly the kind of chaotic, backup-heavy preseason finale that buries the real fantasy signal underneath a wild box score. Here is what actually matters heading into Week 1.
Mendoza, the No. 1 overall pick who's been the presumptive Week 1 starter all camp, finished 8 of 15 for 86 yards, an interception, and a sack, good for a 42.6 rating. Aidan O'Connell relieved him and was the sharper quarterback on the field all night: 15 of 24 for 166 yards, zero turnovers, an 83.0 rating, and the game-winning score himself on a 1-yard sneak in the fourth quarter.
Aidan O'ConnellOne rough final preseason game from a rookie with a real draft-capital claim on the job isn't a reason to bail on Mendoza in dynasty or best ball — final preseason tune-ups are notoriously ugly for the guys expected to actually start Week 1, since the game plan is bare and the defense across from them is often trying to make a roster too. But it's a real data point that the competition behind him isn't nothing. O'Connell has now strung together a genuinely clean outing with real starter-caliber efficiency, which matters the moment Mendoza has a bad quarter in September.
C.J. Stroud played the preseason-starter token amount (4 of 6, 27 yards) before Houston turned it over to its actual competition for QB2. Davis Mills was clean: 11 of 15 for 93 yards, no turnovers, an 89.0 rating. Brett Rypien was not: 6 of 10 for 44 yards, an interception, two fumbles (one lost), and a 30.8 rating. If Stroud ever misses time this season, Mills — not Rypien — is the name with actual streaming value, and this game is the specific reason why.
Marks touched the ball four times and turned it into 37 yards (9.3 per carry) and Houston's opening touchdown, a 20-yard run. Owen Wright (8 carries, 21 yards) and Noah Whittington (9 carries, 11 yards) both needed more than double the touches to produce less. Four carries is nowhere near enough to redraw a depth chart, but it's the kind of per-touch efficiency that's worth tracking into the regular season if Houston's committee stays unsettled.
Get past the box score's two touchdowns and Washington was actually the best Raiders back on the field: a team-high 9 carries for 56 yards (6.2 per carry) on the ground, plus 2 catches for 18 yards on 3 targets — the only Las Vegas back with real work as both a runner and a receiver. Dylan Laube (6 carries, 37 yards) and Dare Ogunbowale (4 carries, 35 yards) both found the end zone, and touchdowns are what jump off a box score, but neither out-produced Washington on a per-touch basis, and neither matched his receiving work. If a coaching staff is grading this game on sustained trust rather than red-zone luck, Washington's the one who got it.
That doesn't make Las Vegas's backfield any clearer, though. Four different backs got real work — Washington's volume, Laube and Ogunbowale's touchdowns, and Roman Hemby chipping in 27 yards on the ground plus return duty — with three weeks of preseason gone and no separation. Nothing about Saturday makes any Raiders back a confident roster spot outside of the deepest best ball formats, but if forced to rank them today off this game alone, Washington's usage says more than Laube's or Ogunbowale's goal-line scores.
Nobody's fantasy stock should move dramatically off one preseason finale with backups playing extended snaps, but four things here are real: Aidan O'Connell has actual film now if Mendoza struggles early, Davis Mills is Houston's real QB2 insurance over Rypien, Woody Marks earned a real look at more volume even in a crowded room, and Mike Washington Jr. quietly out-worked two teammates who scored on him. Check the rookie rankings to see where Mendoza and Marks currently sit, and if either backfield's committee is still unsettled by Week 1, our best ball tool is a fast way to see whether the model's already pricing in the uncertainty.
