The Miami Dolphins head to London to face the Oakland Raiders in an International Series matchup. After a week of drama, most of it media driven rather than any real position battle within the team, quarterback Ryan Tannehill will continue to start for the Dolphins, and he will be looking to improve his 56-percent completion rate and 5.0 yards-per-attempt average. Will it be enough to warrant starting Tannehill on your fantasy team this week?
Week 4 marks the first bye week for the NFL, with Andy Dalton, Brian Hoyer, Peyton Manning, Shaun Hill, Carson Palmer, and Russell Wilson all out of action this week. While some of those passers have been injured, losing someone like Manning or Wilson for a week will hurt some fantasy teams. Tannehill could absolutely be an option to replace them.
But should he be?
As a team, the Raiders are currently fourth in pass defense, allowing just 183 yards-per-game this season. They have just one interception and four sacks on the year, and are allowing 7.0 yards-per-pass. The real story to the Oakland pass defense, however, comes from our preview with Silver and Black Pride's Marcus Allen Krause this week. Asked why the difference between the Raiders' pass defense success, while ranking 31st against the run this year, Krause explained, "The numbers are a little misleading. The passing numbers are lower because the rushing numbers are higher. In the first two games the teams both relied on their rushing attacks because it was working so well. Why bother passing if you can run at will?"
The passing success is there to be had, if the Dolphins and Tannehill want to take it. Oakland has allowed the fourth highest completion rate of 2014, giving up completions on 71.8-percent of passes thrown, or 12-percent higher than Tannehill this year. Miami is going to want to put to bed any quarterback controversy talk still lingering after this past week; Tannehill will definitely want to prove he is the quarterback of the Dolphins.
Will it be enough to start Tannehill this week?
Personally, I would definitely consider it. I think he will come out throwing against the Raiders - the Dolphins are throwing on about 64-percent of their plays, compared to 36-percent running plays - and Tannehill will be looking to make the most of facing a team that could give up a lot through the air. I would not say Tannehill is a must start, but if you are in need of quarterback help this week, picking up Tannehill is not a bad move.
What do you think? Is Tannehill worth consideration this week?
Editor's Note: SB Nation's partner FanDuel is hosting a $350,000 Fantasy Football Contest for Week 4's NFL games. It's only $10 to join and first place wins $30,000. Starts Sunday, September 28th at 1pm ET. Here's the link.