Oakland Raiders Week 8 X-Factors against the Houston Texans

By Matt Holder | Oct 25, 2019

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - AUGUST 15: Offensive tackle Trent Brown #77 of the Oakland Raiders watches from the sidelines during the first half of the NFL preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium on August 15, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

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SANTA CLARA, CA – JANUARY 07: Trayvon Mullen #1 of the Clemson Tigers celebrates his sack against Tua Tagovailoa #13 of the Alabama Crimson Tide in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Levi’s Stadium on January 7, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

Trayvon Mullen

As the cliché goes: “One man’s loss is another man’s gain,” and the rookie out of Clemson has a lot to gain with Gareon Conley out of the picture. With only 78 snaps under his belt, Trayvon Mullen is an unknown at this point. Unfortunately, this weekend isn’t an easy transition to more playing time.

In the last few years, DeAndre Hopkins has become a top-tier wide receiver. While fantasy owners might complain about the wideout not producing the absurd numbers from a year ago, he still is in the top 15 for receiving yards and averages 72.6 yards per game. While “Nuk” has come back down to earth, he is still a very effective offensive weapon.

I doubt Mullen will be left on an island to cover Hopkins very often, but even with help, he still needs to hold up his end of the bargain. Otherwise, Sunday could be a bounce back game for the superstar receiver.

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