Michael Crabtree finding fantasy rebirth with Raiders

There are several examples of castoff players throughout NFL history heading to the Oakland Raiders for a second chance. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, this formula helped the Raiders win three Super Bowls.

It hasn’t been nearly as successful since 2003. Any stars Oakland has been able to attain over the last decade quickly became “former” stars while with the silver and black.

But that might not be true for much longer. Oakland appears to be on the up-and-up and is once again a location for players to find a rebirth. To the delight of fantasy owners, wide receiver Michael Crabtree found a fresh start in 2015.

Crabtree came into the league back in 2009 with a lot of hype due to two outstanding seasons at Texas Tech, but overall, he has left owners largely disappointed throughout his career.

Early on with the 49ers, the quarterback position was too unsettled for Crabtree to really explode in fantasy realms. In his first 27 games over two seasons, he averaged just over 50 yards per game and scored eight touchdowns. That left him as a marginal FLEX play in standard leagues.

Once Jim Harbaugh arrived in San Francisco, things were a little better. Crabtree caught 72 passes for 874 yards and four touchdowns in 2011. Then in 2012, he exploded for 85 receptions, 1,105 yards and nine touchdowns. Colin Kaepernick took over under center in November of that season. In five of his seven starts, Crabtree had at least 9.0 fantasy points in standard leagues.

Finally, fantasy owners were getting the kind of production that was expected out of Crabtree.  This was a guy who set the world on fire with 1,962 receiving yards in 13 games as a freshman at Texas Tech.

Injuries and more quarterback problems, however, slowed Crabtree down again in 2013 and 2014. His yards per game average during that time dipped below 50 yards and once more, he didn’t find the end zone with any regularity (five scores in 21 games).

Crabtree leaving San Francisco before last season was a great thing, yet to the dismay of owners, he decided to move across the bay to Oakland to play for the team otherwise known as the graveyard for veteran NFL players.

But the 28-year-old receiver proved last season owners shouldn’t bury him just yet.

Prior to the season, Oakland rookie receiver Amari Cooper was the guy every fantasy owner wanted. He had a great first year, but it was Crabtree who became quarterback Derek Carr’s favorite receiver. He led Oakland in targets, receptions and receiving touchdowns, tying his career highs from 2011 of 85 catches and nine touchdowns while also recording 922 receiving yards.

Crabtree will turn 29 in September, so it seems unlikely that his skills will improve at all before this season. If anything, he could begin to slow down in the next year or two. Crabtree has already seen a significant decrease in his yards per catch average. After posting at least 12.0 yards per reception in his first five seasons, he has averaged under 11.0 yards per catch in each of the last two years.

Despite that, owners still have to like his upside because of the youth in Oakland’s offense.

Carr has shown great promise through his first two seasons. He threw 32 touchdowns in 2015 and nearly had his first 4,000-yard season. As for the previously mentioned Cooper, he recorded over 1,000 receiving yards in his rookie year.

If these guys continue to improve, there’s a very good chance Crabtree’s 2015 rebirth repeats itself in 2016.

He may not be that WR1 everyone hoped he would be out of college, but he should most definitely be a very useful WR3 in 12-team leagues once again.

The post Michael Crabtree finding fantasy rebirth with Raiders appeared first on Today's Pigskin.