Who Should I Start? Michael Mayer or Brock Bowers

Monday, October 20, 11:29 AM

Las Vegas Raiders tight end Michael Mayer hauled in 1-of-2 targets for ten yards in Sunday's 31-0 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Raiders were handily out-matched against their division rivals, and have now scored a total of 26 points across the last three contests. Mayer was out there for nearly all of the team's snaps (94%), though they netted just 95 total yards of offense. Las Vegas will head into its bye week at 2-5, sitting at the bottom of the AFC West. However, they figure to get both wide receiver Jakobi Meyers (knee, toe) and tight end Brock Bowers (knee) back in the fold in Week 9, boosting the team's outlook. If that comes to fruition, Mayer should see his role shrink accordingly. If it doesn't, he'll be an intriguing streaming option against a susceptible Jaguars' pass defense.

Wednesday, October 29, 3:27 PM

Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers (knee) will be a full participant in the team's first practice of the week on Wednesday, according to Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team. Meanwhile, head coach Pete Carroll said that Bowers has "looked great" and is "playing at full speed," per ESPN's Ryan McFadden. The Raiders were saying before their Week 8 bye that the second-year TE was expected back in Week 9 to face the Jacksonville Jaguars, and a full practice for Bowers on Wednesday confirms that. The 22-year-old initially suffered a PCL injury and a bone bruise in the season opener and tried to play through it. He hasn't played since Week 4, though, so fantasy managers are certainly itching to get him back into their starting lineups. As long as Bowers doesn't suffer a setback with his knee in practice this week, he should start on Sunday against the Jags, where he'll be a TE1 in all fantasy formats.