Michael Crabtree continued to impress with a strong showing Week 9
After a sour ending to his time in San Francisco, Texas Tech alum Michael Crabtree has found new life across the bay in Oakland.
After encountering…shall we call it lukewarm interest on the open market this past offseason, former first-round pick Michael Crabtree was forced to settle for a one-year “prove it” deal with the Oakland Raiders. Two seasons removed from a serious Achilles’ injury, it was fair to say that not much was expected of the former 49er. There are few things, however, more dangerous than a man with a point to prove.
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Crabtree was one of the main reasons that Oakland came so close to beating the Steelers on Sunday, linking up with sophomore sensation Derek Carr to the tune of seven catches, 108 yards and two touchdowns. Carr looked Crabtree’s way 12 times in the match, one behind the team-high of 13 targets held by Amari Cooper. The Cooper/Crabtree axis has been one of the more pleasant surprises of the season, for both Raiders fans and fantasy owners. Crabtree has seen at least six targets in every game, and has recorded at least four catches in each contest. In his last two outings, he has the impressive figures of 14 catches for 210 yards and three scores, from a total of 23 targets, while his last three matches have seen him find the end zone four times. You have to go all the way back to Week 3 to find the last time Crabtree failed to eclipse 36 yards receiving in a game. He has earned the trust of his young quarterback, and it is likely if Crabtree can stay healthy (and motivated by the prospect of a bigger pay day come March) that this relationship will remain fruitful.
In standard scoring, Crabtree is (at the time of writing) the 12th highest scoring fantasy wide receiver, as per NFL.com standard scoring. This puts him in the lower tier of WR1 production, and if the Raiders are to continue to challenge for the Wild Card in the AFC (and fantasy owners are to continue to go to the Crabtree well week after week), he and Carr will need to be at their very best for the rest of the season. In the seven games remaining for Oakland this season, they only face two teams who find themselves in the top 10 in terms of fantasy points per game allowed to wide receivers. Those games are the Week 11 trip to the listless Detroit Lions, and a home match against divisional foes the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 13. Crabtree is worth retaining until such time as his production begins to tail off, but fantasy owners of a particular vintage will remember fondly the way he finished the 2012 season in concert with Colin Kaepernick. Lightning could strike twice in the Bay Area…though not quite in the same spot.
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Neil Dutton is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Neil, check out his archive and follow him on Twitter @ndutton13.
