Stock Up or Stock Down: Oakland Raiders @ New Orleans Saints

A weekly series recapping three players on the Oakland Raiders whose stock is on the rise after playing well, and three players whose stock has taken a hit after a poor performance.

After a thrilling 35-34 win over Sean Payton’s New Orleans Saints, the Oakland Raiders are riding a wave of momentum into next week’s matchup against Julio Jones and the Atlanta Falcons.

After an up and down game from multiple players, we look at our version of a stock watch: three plaers who stood out and thre players who had very rough showings in the first game of the regular season.

Let’s start with players whose stock is on the rise.

Jalen Richard

Three carries for 84 yards and one TD. For an undrafted rookie playing in his first NFL game, in his hometown, Southern Miss product Jalen Richard looked every bit a franchise back Sunday afternoon.

From a shoelace catch with a defender draped on his back to keep a drive alive on 3rd-and-8, to his 75-yard touchdown run on his first career carry, Jalen Richard opened some eyes this week.

At 5’8″ 207 pounds, Richard is a compact back who clearly has breakaway speed, with the ability to impact a game on all three downs. Expect Jalen to eat into Latavius’ carries as the season wears on.

Kelechi Osemele

What can I say about the 60 million dollar man? The attitude K.O. brings to a line that already had nasty maulers such as Donald Penn and Gabe Jackson has taken the Raiders run game to an entirely new level.

While not immediately noticeable in the box score — Oakland rushed for a total of 167 yards and three TD’s — when a short yardage run was needed, you only had to look for #70 to see who was leading the way.

Kelechi says he wasn’t signed to “be a nice guy”, and it clearly shows on film. Routinely punishing any player lined up across from him, Osemele even filled in at left tackle in a pinch when Matt McCants went down with an injury, which saw Donald Penn to flip to the right side.

His stock is clearly on the rise.

Derek Carr

Trailing 34-33, two-point conversion attempt to decide the game, and Derek Carr proves that he has ice in his veins as he throws a game-winning fade route to Michael Crabtree.

That play capped off an impressive evening for Carr — one that saw him throw for over 300 yards with a 98.2 passer rating. Despite only throwing for one TD, Raider fans had the pleasure of watching Carr navigate a pocket while keeping his eyes downfield and effectively distributing the ball to his playmakers in space.

After 13 seasons in QB hell, Carr took this team 75 yards down the field for a season opening statement win, showing football fans everywhere why #RaiderNation believes that he is the future of the franchise.

Next: Oakland Raiders: Stock Down