Three non-voting crew homeowners, little doubt (Getty Photos)
So the first five years of the Aaron Rodgers period in Green Bay have gone reasonably well. The Packers are fifty two-26 in the common season beneath Rodgers, making 4 playoff appearances, claiming two division titles and winning Tremendous Bowl XLV. Rodgers himself has been an All-Pro, league MVP and Super Bowl MVP. He holds the only-season and career records for passer-score (122.5, 104.9). He has the bottom interception fee in NFL historical past (1.7) and the second-highest completion share (65.7). His career yards-per-pass-attempt (8.1) is the best posted by any quarterback for the reason that AFL-NFL merger.
Fantasy-wise, Rodgers has ranked among the top-three scorers at his place yearly since 2008. He is solely missed two video games over 5 seasons, so durability isn’t a priority. Rodgers actually would not come low-cost on the draft desk (ADP 14.7), however his history of consistent prime-tier manufacturing supports the value. Over the past two seasons, he’s thrown 84 touchdowns passes while speeding for 5 extra scores. Rodgers and Drew Brees are the only quarterbacks in the player pool who could be projected for one thing near 40 TDs in 2013.
It’s positive to say that you simply like the QBs who are sometimes obtainable in the mid-rounds in fantasy drafts, in fact — guys like Romo, Luck, Stafford and Wilson. Simply please don’t assume these decrease-tier choices will hold pace with game’s elite passers. The names at the very top of the ranks have separated themselves.
If there’s a potential weak spot in the Pack’s Demise Star-offense this season, it is the O-line. Rodgers was sacked a league-high 51 occasions final 12 months. Green Bay ranked twenty fifth in run-blocking in 2012, per Football Outsiders, and next-to-final in move protection. It is tough to imagine the line enhancing substantially within the 12 months ahead, not with left deal with Bryan Bulaga sidelined (ACL).
Still, Rodgers is an assassin in opposition to the blitz, and mobile sufficient to increase plays when pressured. He’ll be with out Greg Jennings and Donald Driver this season, true, however this crew’s receiving corps stays loaded. James Jones is entering his seventh season with Rodgers, Jordy Nelson and Jermichael Finley their sixth, and Randall Cobb is in year three. Continuity clearly isn’t an issue right here. Nelson had a knee scope early in camp, but he has returned to practice and isn’t at risk of missing the opener. Cobb has handled a biceps concern recently, although he’s also on track for Week 1.
MUSTACHE! (USAT Sports Photographs)
Green Bay’s passing attack is absurdly productive, so it should come as no surprise that Cobb (ADP 29.7), Nelson (49.7) and Jones (sixty one.6) are all drafted as top-25 fantasy receivers. Cobb ought to be a PPR monster — he is a devastating quick-vary weapon, a matchup nightmare — while Nelson and Jones may every rating double-digit TDs, assuming good health. Jordy has visited the tip zone 22 instances over the past two years, and Jones has 21 spikes. No one expects Jones to match final year’s TD-to-catch ratio (14-to-sixty four), however that is not much of a draft day concern, since we’re solely paying a WR3 worth for his companies.
Finley has been a multi-yr disappointment to fantasy investors, but he’s actually had a stellar offseason by all accounts:
“It’s not simply this camp, the entire spring,” [OC Tom] Clements mentioned. “[Finley] has been outstanding. He’s been working arduous. I feel he’s improved his blocking tremendously. He’s turn into a extra detailed route runner. He’s ending plays.”
As the ninth tight end off the board in a mean draft (ADP 83.9), there’s little danger hooked up to Finley in 2013. He actually established a new career-excessive in receptions final season (61), not that anyone noticed, and he is more likely to decide up a share of Jennings’ previous targets (7.8 per game in 2012). Don’t overlook Finley, simply because the model slightly tarnished.
Green Bay’s working game has averaged lower than 4.zero yards per carry in each of the previous three seasons, which is of course pathetic. But this staff stole Eddie Lacy late in the second round in April’s draft, addressing a major shortcoming. Lacy initially discovered himself in a contest for touches on a crowded depth chart, however in recent weeks DuJuan Harris was placed on IR (knee), Alex Green was launched, and fourth-spherical rookie Johnathan Franklin has persistently underwhelmed.
Thus, the Packers will enter the season with Lacy in a featured position. He was a terror at Alabama last yr, rushing for 1322 yards at 6.5 per carry, scoring 19 touchdowns. We should always note that he did his collegiate working behind a line of five crimson mastodons, two of whom have been first-round picks themselves (DJ Fluker, Chance Warmack). Lacy will not discover the running lanes to be quite as vast in 2013 as they had been final year. Still, it is hard to not love the child’s fantasy setup. He should dominate the backfield touches for a massively productive offense. Over the previous month, Lacy’s ADP has jumped from the mid-fifth spherical to the mid-third. But no matter the place you snagged him, he provides revenue potential.
This defense features a number of respectable names — notably Clay Matthews and Morgan Burnett — but it was a middle-of-the-pack group last year. The Packers allowed four.5 yards per carry to opposing rushers last season (and a whopping 7.four to Adrian Peterson. AP completely humiliated this group, operating for 409 yards over two video games.) I am unable to advocate this D/ST as anything more than a match-up play. First-spherical DE Datone Jones will assist, as will a wholesome version of LB Nick Perry. But I would not touch the Packers D within the season-opener, when they journey to San Francisco to face the quarterback who torched ‘em in the playoffs final January.
2012 staff stats: 27.1 points per game (5), 271.four passing yards per game (eight), 106.four dashing yards per recreation (20)
Previous Juggernauts: 32. NY Jets, 31. Oakland, 30. Jacksonville, 29. Buffalo, 28. Cleveland, 27. Tennessee, 26. San Diego, 25. Miami, 24. St. Louis, 23. Pittsburgh, 22. Arizona, 21. Minnesota, 20. Kansas City, 19. Chicago, 18. Baltimore, 17. Philadelphia, sixteen. Indianapolis, 15. Carolina, 14. Cincinnati, thirteen. NY Giants, 12. Detroit, eleven. New England, 10. Tampa Bay, 9. Seattle, 8. Washington, 7. Houston, 6. New Orleans, 5. San Francisco, 4. Denver
Juggernaut Index, No. 3: The Green Bay Packers
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