Preseason Week 1 Fantasy Football Game Recap: Las Vegas Raiders vs. San Francisco 49ers

• Zamir White starts at running back for the Las Vegas Raiders: White started the game for the Raiders and played the majority of early snaps.

• Jordan Mason has a grasp on the 49ers’ third running back spot: The 2022 undrafted rookie was among the highest-graded running backs on a small sample last season.

• Both teams rested their starters as well as several backups: It’s highly unlikely any wide receiver or tight end who played in this game will be relevant for fantasy football this season.

PFF's fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2023. You can find more information on why it’s essential to pay attention to the preseason here.

Check out PFF's 2023 Fantasy Draft Kit for even more content to help you dominate your league.

Zamir White is the clear favorite for the backup job: White was a major part of the Raiders’ offense in the first quarter.

He ran the ball nine times for 35 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter. His carries were half of the Raiders’ offensive plays in the quarter.
The Raiders were replacing White with Ameer Abdullah in passing situations on third down, which is the role Abdullah handled last season.
The longer Josh Jacobs stays away from the team, the more likely it is White will see significant playing time in Week 1.

Jordan Mason is clearly ahead of Tyrion Davis-Price: Mason played on the first three offensive plays and then Davis-Price took most of the snaps for the rest of the game.

Mason came back for only one drive in the second quarter and a few plays just to give Davis-Price a break before other backups entered in the fourth quarter.
This is slightly surprising, considering Davis-Price was a third-round pick last season while Mason went undrafted.
Mason played 82 snaps last season and earned a 90.6 rushing grade, while Davis-Price played 70 with a 56.1 run grade.
It’s unlikely either sees significant playing time this season with Christian McCaffrey on top of the depth chart and Elijah Mitchell second.
Trey Sermon was drafted in the third round in 2021 and didn’t make the 49ers’ roster the following year. It’s possible Davis-Price is following in those footsteps.

Miscellaneous Notes

The San Francisco 49ers had five wide receivers run 20 or more routes last season. They were Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, Jauan Jennings, Ray-Ray McCloud III and Danny Gray. All of these players are still on the roster, but none of them started this game.
The Las Vegas Raiders similarly had four wide receivers with 20-plus routes last season. Mack Hollins is off the roster, but Davante Adams, Hunter Renfrow and Keelan Cole were all available and didn’t start. Cole did play in three-receiver sets. Free agent addition Jakobi Meyers also had the day off.
It will be interesting how the Raiders use new tight ends Michael Mayer and Austin Hooper, but we’ll need to wait at least another week to see.

Table Notes

Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.
Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.