Green Bay Packers

Head Coach: Mike McCarthy (11th year)
Offensive Coordinator: Edgar Bennett (2nd year)
Defensive Coordinator: Dom Capers (8th year)

Depth Chart

Quarterback: Aaron Rodgers, Brett Hundley
Running Back: Eddie Lacy, James Starks, John Crockett
Wide Receiver: Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Davante Adams, Jeff Janis, Ty Montgomery, Jared Abbredaris
Tight End: Jared Cook, Richard Rodgers
Kicker: Mason Crosby
Defense/Spec Teams: 2015-Finished 15th in yards against and 12th in points against. Finished 7th in sacks and 9th in interceptions.

Coaching Philosophy

Last season, the wheels fell off for the Green Bay Packers’ offense. The Pack had finished in the top ten in both scoring and total yards in eight of the previous nine seasons until last year’s dip in production. Whether it was a dip in Aaron Rodgers accuracy, the loss of Jordy Nelson for the season or Eddie Lacy eating himself into being an effective running back, there are several places where things may have gone wrong. However, it looks like the pieces are falling back into place for a bounce back this season. Jordy Nelson is now back and rumor has it that Lacy is in better shape so I think we can expect to see the Packers return to the well balanced, high scoring team they have been in previous years. It’s always a nice rule of thumb that if you’re stuck in the draft and not quite sure who to draft, choose a player from a high scoring team. The Packers are one of those teams.

Fantasy Outlook

Packers Quarterbacks

Aaron Rodgers looks to rebound after a tough 2015.

Aaron Rodgers struggled last season. If you remove his nine game season in 2013, he threw for the fewest yards he has ever thrown for in his career since taking over for Hall of Famer, Brett Favre. Not only did he throw for a career low in yards, but his 60.7% completion percentage was also a career low. For a guy who is annually a top fantasy quarterback, his seventh place finish among fantasy quarterbacks was quite unusual. Will he regain his form this season? All signs say he should. Jordy Nelson is back, giving him his big play threat and Randall Cobb can now return to his number two role. Eddie Lacy looks like he’s ready to become a threat again in the backfield, so hopefully that opens things up even more for the Pack’s pass attack. Rodgers isn’t the guy who’s going to get you 5,000 yards like Drew Brees, but he should be able to throw for 4,300-4,400 yards and 35 or so touchdowns. Many have Rodgers as the number one fantasy quarterback for 2016 but regardless if you agree or disagree with that, he should be one of the first two or three off the board.

Packers Running Backs

Eddie Lacy looks to be in better shape and ready to show the NFL he wants to get paid…I mean, that he wants to be a good running back again.

It’s true. Eddie Lacy has never met a hamburger that he didn’t like. Neither have I though, so I won’t bust him up too bad for playing last season grossly over his normal playing weight. He struggled mightily because of it however, and he rushed for almost 400 yards less than he did the two previous seasons and scored only five total touchdowns. His bad season has caused him to fall to a current, third round average draft position and that sets him up for a nice value this year. I think we will see him bounce back for two reasons. First, it’s a contract year for the fourth year back and if lots and lots of green doesn’t motivate him, I don’t know what will. He also has dropped about 25 pounds or so and looks to be around 240, which is closer to his normal 230-235 playing weight. His weight loss makes me think he’s very motivated and I think he can return to the 1,100 yard, ten touchdown guy that we saw in his first two season. If you decide to go with wide receivers in the first two rounds like many people are doing this year, you could do much worse than Lacy as your RB1 in the third round.

The Packers are hoping Lacy is going to be a stud again, because he’s a much better running back than backup, James Starks. Starks’ owns a career, 4.3 yards per attempt and over the last two seasons, he’s only averaged around 4.0 yards per carry. He’s a decent receiver and solid handcuff if you want to handcuff Lacy, but his upside is very much limited.

Packers Wide Receivers

Welcome back, Jordy!

Aaron Rodgers is extremely happy to see his ol’ buddy, Jordy Nelson return to the field. Nelson missed the entire 2015 season with a torn ACL and without Nelson, opposing defenses were able to keep Randall Cobb and company contained. He’s already suffering some tendinitis is his knee, but fortunately it’s the opposite knee of his torn ACL and it appears that it’s possibly just an overcompensation issue. He should return anytime to training camp and so monitor the status, but all signs point to it being a non-issue. If his knee is healthy, there’s no reason why he can’t return to his 90 catch, 1,300-1,400 yard production. He also has a knack for the end zone as he’s averaged almost 11 touchdowns over his previous four seasons. Health may keep him from being drafted as a top five receiver off the board this year, but he would make someone a nice first or second receiver in the second round.

Randall Cobb is ready to resume his role as the number two wide receiver in Green Bay. Many thought he could be a top five or ten fantasy receiver once Jordy went down, but instead, he struggled mightily and finished 26th in PPR leagues. While Cobb may not be a great receiver, he’s still a good receiver and should make someone a very nice WR2 in fantasy this season.

The third wide receiver job is still up in the air. It looks as though Davante Adams is currently in the lead, but after the way he played last season, he may not be able to hold on to it for long. Jared Abbredaris and Jeff Janis are in the mix, as his Ty Montgomery who is recovering from meniscus surgery. Personally, the only one I would consider drafting is Janis. If I was in a deeper league and wanted to take a late round flier, he showed that he was capable of big things as he caught seven balls for 145 yards and two touchdowns in a playoff game against Arizona last year. If I were in a ten or twelve team league, I would probably leave them all on the waiver wire though.

Packers Tight Ends

The Packers brought in perpetually disappointing tight end, Jared Cook to help solidly their tight end spot. It won’t work. He’s never lived up to the fantasy expectations that many had thought he was capable of, and now he will be sharing the load with Richard Rodgers. Leave both of them alone in fantasy drafts this season.

You can follow me on Twitter @fantasygeek37 and email me questions at steve@fightingchancefantasy.com.

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