Rod Streater: Oakland Raiders Receiver Destined to Be Big-Time Fantasy Sleeper

There aren’t a ton of positives to take away from the Oakland Raiders first preseason game of the year against the Dallas Cowboys, but undrafted rookie Rod Streater was one of the few.

The 24-year-old out of Temple has been wowing the Raiders coaching staff in practice, and it has now oozed onto the field.

Streater caught six passes for 66 yards in ONE HALF against the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night, with the longest completion being 18 yards.

This doesn’t come as a huge surprise to anyone who has followed the Raiders offseason. The San Francisco Chronicle reported earlier this summer that Streater was getting first-team reps when Denarius Moore was sidelined due to injury.

He is learning the offense quickly and it has translated to the field right off the bat. Even ESPN’s Skip Bayless noticed:

Raiders must really love undrafted rookie Rod Streater. Can’t remember rookie being so featured in 1st half of 1st preseason game – 6 for 66

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) August 14, 2012

Ok so Bayless may not be your end-all source, but he makes a valid point.

Sure the Raiders already employ Darrius Heyward-Bey and Jacoby Ford in addition to Moore, but none of them have consistently proven themselves with the silver and black.

Streater deserves a shot and judging by his Week 1 preseason performance, he’ll continue to get one.

Sure Carson Palmer isn’t the best quarterback to be chucking you the rock, but let’s not forget he averaged 340 passing yards in the final three games last season. More importantly, he averaged over 36 attempts during that stretch.

Darren McFadden is healthy again (for how long?), but this team is going to be pass-happy, leaving plenty of opportunities for guys like Streater.

I’m not here to anoint him the next great fantasy player who should be drafted in Round 10. One half of preseason football is not a big enough sample size. But there is no question there is some serious sleeper value here. If you play in a deep league or love to land the top no-name turned household name, Streater is certainly a candidate.

It will be very interesting to see how this plays out in Week 2 of the preseason against the Arizona Cardinals now that NFL teams have film on him. Nobody is anointing him just yet, but you can’t help but get excited about his first performance on the big stage.

Monday night may have been the opening act of one of the best underrated fantasy picks of the season.

Read more Oakland Raiders news on BleacherReport.com