Green Bay Packers: Week 9 fantasy football profile
By Kenn Korb
WRs – Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Davante Adams, Ty Montgomery, Jeff Janis, Trevor Davis, Geronimo Allison
Week 8 Statistics:
Nelson – 4 catches (9 targets), 94 receiving yards, 1 TD; 15.40 fantasy points
Cobb – N/A (missed due to injury)
Adams – 12 catches (14 targets), 74 receiving yards; 7.40 fantasy points
Montgomery – N/A (missed due to injury)
Janis – 4 catches (4 targets), 30 receiving yards, 1 TD; 9.00 fantasy points
Davis – 3 catches (4 targets), 24 receiving yards, 1 TD; 8.40 fantasy points
Allison – 2 catches (4 targets), 21 receiving yards, 1 TD; 8.10 fantasy points
Oh boy, there’s so much to go through here.
With both Cobb and Montgomery ending up as scratches for last week, Green Bay delved all the way into their bin of receiving talent; somehow, they got a decent showing out of every single one of them.
Nelson was able to break out of a recent slump for his best showing since Week 3, picking up his 2nd-most yardage on the year and his first TD catch in three weeks. He even broke through the deep coverage of the Falcons to catch a deep pass down the middle — something sorely lacking from this offense since 2014. He came down with an injury on the final drive, but he isn’t on the injury report now so it won’t be a problem going forward.
I mentioned earlier about Adams lining up in the backfield for some routes, but he was everywhere. His yardage wasn’t stellar and he didn’t score, but he is really becoming a go-to guy Rodgers can trust on every down to make a play. He’s now led the Packers in targets and receptions the past two games (setting multiple Packers’ receiving records in the process) and it doesn’t seem like he’ll slow down anytime soon.
Due to Cobb and Montgomery’s absences, Janis, Davis, and Allison each saw season-highs for offensive snaps, and each made multiple plays in their time on the field. Janis caught all four targets sent his way, Davis caught a few passes (as well as making a 55-yard punt return), and Allison — fresh off the practice squad — grabbed a couple passes of his own. Each guy also caught a TD pass.
This week, I’m expecting we’ll return back to more of what we are used to personnel-wise, but keep your eyes on the injury report.
Nelson should do fine whether or not if Davis plays. I expect more of the same in terms of coverage scheme the team has seen from defenses for the past year (i.e.: two safeties deep, blocking off big plays), but he can work on mid-range routes and makes some decent gains while probably finding his way to a TD.
Adams should continue his high-target ways regardless of what happens with his fellow wideouts’ health status, and having more of his routes likely to be lined up at receiver again (as well as a defense even less equipped to handle any kind of receiving threat) should mean he can bust out a few bigger plays with those opportunities than he could against Atlanta.
It may be a bit much to expect yet another double-digit reception game, but he should definitely push towards that barring a coverage shift specifically to take him away (though, based on the opponent, doesn’t seem like it would make much of a difference anyway).
Montgomery was working in full pads at practice this week, so all signs point to him returning to the field. Assuming he does he should be in the same type of role we saw from him against Chicago: a runner-receiver who gets 15-20 combined rushes/targets.
Cobb is less of a lock right now (the latest update I saw had him limited in practice), but barring a setback it feels like he should be out there. If he does, I’d keep my expectations low for now given the damage the other three above him should be doing, but he can’t be discounted with such a favorable matchup.
If Cobb can’t go however, the Janis/Davis/Allison trio should see another boost snaps — and with it, a jump in opportunities. Each adds a nice dash of explosiveness to the equation and could all probably have strong games if given the chance.
With my expectation of Cobb playing I’d say limit your hopes for them, but if something negative happens between now and game-time with Cobb’s status, any one of them could be a last-ditch effort to secure some points for your team.
Of the three, Janis would be the first up for snaps based on his work against Atlanta (58 snaps for Janis, compared to 36 and 19 for Davis and Allison, respectively), but Davis seems to have the most dynamic speed of them all. He also has emerged as a threat on his punt returns (evidence by his 55-yarder against the Falcons); combine his work there with his threat as a receiver and it makes him the more viable option in my eyes for an emergency-play situation.
Week 9 Predictions: