Green Bay Packers Fantasy Profile: Week 1
By Kenn Korb
Sep 3, 2015; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers tight end Andrew Quarless (81) is tackled by New Orleans Saints safety Jamarca Sanford (33) in the second quarter at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
TEs – Andrew Quarless, Richard Rodgers, Kennard Backman
Last Season:
Quarless – 29 catches, 323 receiving yards, 3 TDs; 50.30 fantasy points
Rodgers – 20 catches, 225 receiving yards. 2 TDs; 34.50 fantasy points
Backman – N/A (rookie)
Ahh … here we are, the bane of my fantasy profile from last season.
If you read anything from my profiles last season, you’ll know how frustrating this group has been for me.
It isn’t that I think they aren’t talented; in fact, I like the guys here in terms of roster-building purposes. For fantasy purposes, however, they have left much to be desired.
Over the course of last season, these two couldn’t even catch 50 passes combined. They grabbed under 550 receiving yards between them, with only 5 total TDs to show for their efforts.
There is hope for a better showing this season, however.
Quarless won’t ever be great, but he has been in the offense for years and was one of the guys getting talked up in the offseason by Aaron Rodgers.
With the absence of Nelson at wide receiver, we can expect to see the ball spread around better across the offense in the passing game in 2015.
It remains to be seen if Quarless will actually see more of those passes, but there is a chance he does.
The same goes for Richard Rodgers, who has been talked about as having some of the surest hands on the team (again, said by Aaron Rodgers).
Jan 18, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright (50) tackles Green Bay Packers tight end Richard Rodgers (89) in the NFC Championship at CenturyLink Field. The Seahawks defeated the Packers 28-22 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Bears would be a great time for us to see either of these guys step into that bigger role that’s been alluded to.
The linebackers are a jumbled, unsatisfying mess in Chicago.
Shea McClellin is moving to inside linebacker after failing everywhere else, Jon Bostic is so underwhelming he’s now a backup, Mason Foster can be decent but he was let go by the team that just selected #1 overall this past draft, and Jared Allen has never been a linebacker previously. Only new addition Pernell McPhee looks to be a more-than-capable player, but even that is suspect with how free agents have a tendency to wash out once they leave their original teams.
If there is a game where either of these two could make a statement, this is it.
Until I see it come to fruition however, color me skeptical. They’ll have to prove it first before I start bandying about praise and heightened expectations in these fantasy profiles.
Predictions:
Quarless – 2 catches, 20 receiving yards; 2.00 fantasy points
Rodgers – 1 catch, 15 receiving yards; 1.50 fantasy points
Backman – 0 catches; 0.00 fantasy points
Verdict: Left Bench (Quarless); Right Bench (Rodgers); The Inactive List (Backman)