Raiders’ Kenyan Drake In Fantasy Football RB2 Picture After Josh Jacobs Ruled Out

Raiders’ Kenyan Drake In Fantasy Football RB2 Picture After Josh Jacobs Ruled Out article feature image
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Las Vegas Raiders starting running back Josh Jacobs has been ruled out of Sunday's game against the Steelers with injuries to his toe and ankle.

That vaults backup running back Kenyan Drake into the fantasy football RB2 conversation.

Drake is now ranked as the 19th-best running back in The Action Network's Sean Koerner's power rankings for the NFL's Week 2 slate.

The Action Network's Chris Raybon has Drake listed as the 17th-best running back this week.

"In Week 1, a banged-up Josh Jacobs played 45-of-86 snaps (about 52%) while Drake played the other 41 snaps (about 48%)," Raybon said. "The fact that no other halfback got into the game despite it going to overtime and the Raiders piling up 86 snaps tells me Drake has a high-ceiling usage rate."

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"Volume is king, so Drake is a startable RB2, but temper expectations against a stingy Steelers defense," Raybon added.

Koerner said while Drake figures to be the workhorse back against the Steelers, he's holding off for now on making any start/sit calls.

"The Raiders lack depth at running back, so Drake is a high floor play, but the matchup at Pittsburgh isn’t a favorable one — especially if left guard Richie Incognito is unable to suit up," Koerner said.

Koerner encourages readers to revisit The Action Network's updated power rankings on Sunday morning for his final start/sit decision.

Peyton Barber will also get an opportunity to nab some carries on Sunday after he received zero touches in Week 1. The 27-year-old out of Auburn is worth a flier in deeper fantasy football leagues.

Jacobs had been visibly hobbled in the Raiders' Week 1 game against the Ravens, but he was still able to score twice, including a vital 15-yard run to tie the game up in the fourth quarter.

The former first-round pick had been unable to practice this week.

The Raiders are 6.5-point underdogs at BetMGM for their game in Pittsburgh.

As The Action Network's PJ Walsh pointed out in a story on Wednesday, West Coast teams that just played a game in the Pacific time zone before having to travel to the East Coast with fewer than seven days between games are 5-12-1 against the spread since 2005.

The Raiders played a game on Monday in Las Vegas and will have to travel to Pittsburgh for Sunday's game.

That 5-12-1 ATS mark gives teams in that position a terrible 29.4% cover rate over the last 16 years.

It'll be even harder without their premier back at the helm, too.

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