With the NFL season well underway, fantasy football managers search high and low for the edge that will get them as many wins as possible. The Green Bay Packers are home to a number of offensive weapons with varying degrees of being start-worthy. For these fantasy football question marks, starting them isn’t an obvious choice.
Green Bay Packers Leaving Fantasy Football Managers With Questions
Jordan Love
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Taking over for a generational talent is difficult, just as Aaron Rodgers had to replace Brett Favre. All Rodgers did was win 147 games, four MVPs, eight division titles, three more playoff appearances, 11 playoff wins, and a win in Super Bowl XLV.
Love’s career to this point has had the massive “shoulda, coulda, woulda” surrounding his selection. At Utah State, Love threw for 8,600 yards and 60 touchdowns and added 403 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. After waiting three years for his chance, he’s made the most of his opportunity. Well, kind of. This season has been pretty ‘highs and lows’ after a 2-2 start.
There were lightly above average expectations for Love in his first year at the helm. He has shown the ability to spread it out and extend plays with his legs. He could have been considered a decent QB2 to back-up a more viable QB1 on the roster. Perhaps he needed that extra year?
Thus far through four games, Love has shown glimpses of being a decent fantasy football quarterback. After the first two games, in PPR leagues, Love was in the 10-best player overall and the second-best quarterback. Given, some of those expected QB1-type players have had at least one off day (ahem, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes), so Love will likely continue to regress back to the mean as he has through weeks three and four.
However, vastly overperforming early in the season could mean a surprise top-10 finish. He could be well worth a look as QB1 on your team, especially in dynasty leagues.
A.J. Dillon
The player who most expected to lead the way with the Packers was Aaron Jones. Jones is the lead running back in an offense that loves to use him in a multitude of ways. Since 2019, Jones has finished as RB2, RB5, RB11, and RB5 in respective years. With the Packers breaking in a new quarterback, they are expected lean on Jones to make his job significantly easier. After a great first week, he’s been hampered with hamstring injury and is going to miss time.
This Packers team is an interesting case thus far. If you’re looking for an online fish shooting game with real money that sure is fun, that’s one thing. But if you’re looking to win money on fantasy football, Jones was a sure thing. Now, it’s time for A.J. Dillon.
In Jones’ absence, Dillon has been handling the duties. He’s not the receiving threat Jones is out of the backfield but he will get the lion’s share of the carries. Production via volume is the name of the game, but if the first four weeks are any indication, this could be a huge question mark for anyone who has him on their roster.
The Packers worked out former 1,000-yard rusher (with the Jaguars) James Robinson on Monday.
Other workouts were:
RB Clint Ratkovich (Northern Illinois)
LB Olakunle Fatukasi (Rutgers)
CB Thakarius Keyes (Tulane)
S Christian Young (Arizona)— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) October 2, 2023
It’s worth noting that he slow start does pose some questions. Mostly that comes in the way of rumors swirling around former 1000-yard running back James Robinson. Per ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, the team are working out Robinson as a potential replacement. If that happens, assume it’s a question mark that will end with an exclamation point.
Jayden Reed
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The Packers’ receiving corps has been the center of much scorn and concern over the last few years. First, the team could have used their first-round pick on a guy like Tee Higgins instead of Love. Et cetera, et cetera. However, this year’s team has a few players who have playmaking abilities and thus far, the rookie from Michigan State is breaking out.
In a room with Chrisitan Watson and Romeo Doubs, it may seem difficult to break out but Reed has started off his rookie campaign pretty strong. Moving forward, he will be a must roster as he becomes more and more involved in the Packers’ game plans.
At MSU, Reed was a dynamic, play-making machine in an otherwise sad offense. He totalled over 13 yards per touch in his career and was a force to be reckoned with. He’s incredibly quick and can accelerate on a dime. Reed was known for being able to find space and make plays with whatever was given to him and he’s off to a good start in the NFL.
With a fairly strong performance in an otherwise dire game against the Lions, he was 3 of 5 for 55 yards. He had one long catch for 44 yards. Reed could be one to hold onto, especially if he gets on the same page as Jordan Love and becomes a little more consistent.