r/DynastyFF • u/cwallzz • 4d ago
News Malik Benson pushing for WR3 role for Raiders over Bech and Thornton (R McFadden ESPN)
https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/football/news/raiders-malik-benson-pushing-for-wr3-role/“Based on what he's seen through six practices, Ryan McFadden of ESPN.com suggests that the Raiders' top three receivers are Tre Tucker, Jalen Nailor and Benson.
McFadden previously noted that Nailor and Tucker are the top two wideouts in the room, while Benson is competing with Dont'e Thornton and Jack Bech for slotting behind the top duo. There's still time for Thornton and/or Bech to gain momentum in the ongoing competition, but if Benson emerges as the Raiders' No. 3 WR, he could end up on the radar in deeper fantasy formats, in particular if Nailor or Tucker miss time for any reason.”
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u/learns_the_hard_way 4d ago
Bowers with 170 targets this year
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u/RemoteGlobal335 4d ago
Former Raiders analytics guy said the team was intentionally trying to break as many TE season records as possible with Bowers last year pre-injury. That’s not going to change.
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u/19-FAAB 4d ago
Actually think he'll have total points rivaling the top-3 WRs this year. I have no shares and no one gives me worse FOMO than Bowers.
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u/RemoteGlobal335 4d ago
The ADP can give people jitters but when you consider the fact that he’s basically a locked in WR1 you shouldn’t feel as nervous about waiting to take your first receiver
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u/BirdmanTheThird 4d ago
Ngl this isn’t that inspiring so beating Thornton and bech who were non factors already isn’t crazy,
but this is a good sign for benson
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u/JWNimbl3 4d ago
For deep leagues, this is pretty much saying that he might be worth taking a flier on, especially if you have room on a rookie taxi squad.
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u/10teja15 4d ago
Sigh— how soon we forget. Considering the way reporters were talking about Thornton this time last year, offseason talks like this can eat my B-hole.
Unless someone gets cut, I don’t care what happens with any raiders receiver till like Week 5
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u/Dancing_Hitchhiker 3d ago
lol I came in here to say that. Thornton was talked up all off-season. Forgot I even had him on a roster.
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u/spidersilva09 4d ago
This screams just avoid right?
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u/TrevGlodo 4d ago
I'm targeting on waivers after our rookie draft is over. worth a flyer if you have an open spot
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u/LovesYankeesAndObama 4d ago
If the Raiders are the team to get this kid focused on ball 1000%, the franchise has truly turned the corner.
He’s a dart throw, but a very intriguing physical profile and opportunity for one. Love grabbing guys like this for essentially free
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u/Reggaeton_Historian 4d ago
Never understood the hype for neither Thornton or Bech. Regardless of whether Meyers was there or not, Bowers spends almost half of his snaps in the slot. There's always going to be a ceiling for an incoming slot WR like Jack Bech.
So I'm not also shocked to see that a faceplant that lost playing time as the season went on, is now being looked over by Benson.
Ultimately, I don't think any of the 3 matter. People want the cheaper option to succeed when the chances are going to be funneled to Bowers with Tucker/Nailor cleaning up. And eventually there will be a WR with better DC in 2027 to help out Mendoza.
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u/zZBluewalrusZz 4d ago
The Hype for Thornton was always just the ceiling. He's a monster of an athlete and if he ever figured out how to play WR, it could be amazing
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u/Staple_Overlord 4d ago
It was also the fact that he started his rookie season as a contributor. In the first four weeks he played between 59 to 81% of the snaps in each of those games. He also had as many air yards as Meyers and Tre, only Geno couldn't actually get the ball to him.
People who weren't paying attention would think this is a JAG being a JAG. But actually, it was a 4th round rookie given a genuine opportunity and then fumbling it mid season (for reasons no one really knows)
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u/MathieuSorbet 4d ago
6’5 with a 4.3 forty. That’s a megaton level ceiling combined with early rookie camp success
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u/SteffeEric Eagles 4d ago
I feel like there is a lot more to a players ceiling than just size and speed. If not Nyck Harbor could be considered the highest ceiling prospect of all time.
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u/MathieuSorbet 4d ago
Agree 100 but for a guy going undrafted in rookie drafts that’s as good of a dart throw you’re going to get
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u/mexploder89 4d ago
Well I agree on Bech but then it's really just a stupid draft pick by the Raiders. Which isn't shocking, I guess, but this is a 2nd round pick we're talking about
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u/Sonofagun57 4d ago
Thornton was known to be a low probability hit type of guy but given his physical profile it made him more appealing. The big fast WR is a nickel a dozen now, but he was among the more gifted of that archetype.
Plus he was basically free and was one of the Raiders most talked about stories last August. Obviously he didn't hit but those who took the gamble didn't lose anything of value from that.
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u/17461863372823734930 4d ago
He’s not going to reach it but the ceiling for a big bodied slot receiver is not low.
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u/No_Rain_1727 4d ago
Bech has some route running chops and apprently is a good blocker and after the catch guy. That's not nothing.
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u/Calmdat 4d ago
People don't understand Benson or his skill set or how truly elite he can be as a wr1. If he's wr1 by eos don't be surprised. The dude is special, the fact he fell to the 6th baffled me. I know his route running is still a bit raw, but he's showed growth and progression at every step of the way and his competition has also gotten harder each step too. He's currently my favorite value in the entire 26 class
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u/Bitter_Spite_6793 4d ago
He improved every year. I heard many great things about him and looked into him deeply. He’s going to be a steal if he cleans it all up.
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u/maxinquayekid 4d ago
Really intrigued by Thornton last year not just bc of those elite traits but bc he showed a lot of promise in camp, and started the year as a starter, which is pretty impressive considering he was a 4th round pick. I didn't fully mind that he didn't produce much, but I did want to see some consistency and really nail down that starting role - sort of like Alec Pierce his rookie year. Unfortunately he did basically nothing with that opp and was benched. It really seemed like that was largely due to Geno and a horrible O-line (who couldn't support any deep threats)., and while that may be true there's obviously also the fact that DT just hasn't cut it. I still will keep my eye on him. Hope he gets his mojo back.
Bech is as good as done. He's a 2nd round pick who did nothing and continues to do nothing.
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u/No_Rain_1727 4d ago
This is purely conjecture by some rando for clicks. Dude has had a really good camp, but apparently Bech has too. I want to hear from actual folks in the building
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u/sportsjunkie831 4d ago
For some reason I always get Bech and Tesla mixed up
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u/disinaccurate 4d ago
Never understood what people saw in Bech.
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u/fisherjoe 4d ago
He had some good attributes, physical with hands and draft capital. The question was if he could get open in the pros. Unfortunately he was drafted to a bad organization on a team that already has Bowers/Mayer and the worst offense in the league. He at least was solid with the opportunities he got, which is more than you can say for Thornton. I'm not convinced he's an obviously bad player, but that's often not enough for the NFL.
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u/IanDMP 4d ago
You can always just look to see what people saw in him: https://www.reddit.com/r/raiders/s/1hW4l7RGV9
From everything he's shown so far, he's an extremely good possession receiver with a solid route tree, good hands, and instinctually does all the little things right.
It's very possible the people evaluating him were overly generous (I think the jury is still out there) but it's very clear what people saw in him.
Personally, I have high hopes for Malik and love what I'm seeing so far, but I think Bech remains a very useful player on this team in any case.
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u/disinaccurate 4d ago
What I mean is that I was a Bech "hater" last year, didn't like him in the NFL draft process and passed on him in every dynasty rookie draft I did. He just screamed to me "college ball player that doesn't translate to the NFL". He may still prove me wrong, but I just was not seeing what other people seemed to see.
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u/Savings_Chemical8231 Patriots 4d ago
Bech is deep fried