With about a month until training camp this is probably the biggest down time for Green Bay Packers news. So, it’s a good time for those of us fantasy football nerds to start preparing for our drafts. The Packers have many more options for your fantasy football team than just about any team in the NFL with their high powered offense.

Aaron Rodgers:

Rodgers would be my top choice at quarterback and the only real competition for his crown is Andrew Luck. It’s really neck and neck between those two. Luck’s big advantage over Rodgers is volume, as he threw 621 passes last year to Rodgers’ 520. However, the Colts had zero running game last year, and Frank Gore should help keep Luck’s passing attempts a little lower this season. Rodgers has a big advantage in weapons with Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and Davante Adams and that he keeps his interception total much lower. Rodgers edged out Luck in ESPN standard leagues last year by four points.  Rodgers starts becoming an option towards the end of the first round in your drafts or the beginning of the second depending on your league’s scoring system.

Eddie Lacy:

Lacy would be my No. 1 overall pick if I held the top pick in a draft today. It would be LeVeon Bell under normal circumstances, but his three-game suspension knocks him down a tick. If it’s reduced to one game I would have to reconsider. Lacy is ahead of Jamaal Charles based on volume of carries and Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch due to age concerns. DeMarco Murray was the top running back last year, but is leaving Dallas’ offensive line, is injury prone, had an astounding 393 carries a year ago and Ryan Matthews will steal carries. Lacy has youth on his side and the fact that James Starks isn’t going to steal a lot of carries. He is just a load for defenders to bring down and has done his best  work down the stretch of the regular season when the fantasy playoffs are ongoing. Many fantasy football owners panicked after the first four games when Lacy had one touchdown and no games over 43 yards and traded him for not enough value. Those who saw that the Packers played elite rushing defenses like the Seahawks, Jets and Lions kept faith in Lacy and were rewarded. A big plus for Lacy is that he finished sixth among running backs in receiving yards and will not come out of the game for goal-line situations or third-downs. He is definitely in a position to improve upon his season last year when he rushed for 1,345 yards and nine touchdowns.

Jordy Nelson: 

Nelson is my No. 6 overall wide receiver at the moment behind Antonio Brown, Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas, Julio Jones and Odell Beckham Jr., which places him as easily a N0. 1 receiver for your fantasy team. Nelson had a career year least year with 98 catches, 1,519 yards and 13 touchdowns. He remains one of the biggest downfield threats in the NFL with 554 of his receiving yards on throws of 20-plus yards down the field, which was third in the NFL. Additionally, he is a big red zone threat for the Packers since they don’t have a great tight end, and Randall Cobb isn’t your typical red zone threat. Nelson was fourth in the NFL in red zone targets (19).

Randall Cobb:

The huge question for Cobb’s fantasy value next season is are his touchdowns from last year sustainable? Touchdowns can tend to vary year to year for receivers and be a little random. A 5’10” slot receiver like Cobb isn’t supposed to have 12 touchdowns. You know the catches and yards will be there, but the safe bet is for his touchdown total to fall below double digits. Still, Cobb should be a low-end N0. 1/high-end No. 2 receiver for your fantasy team. The Packers offense has proven yearly that it can support having two N0. 1 fantasy receivers like Nelson and Cobb with Rodgers under center. Cobb actually had more targets than Nelson for the Packers after Week 7.

Davante Adams:

Fantasy football owners who aren’t Packers fans have definitely picked up on the Davante Adams hype train that has been started by Rodgers and Mike McCarthy. I’ve been driving that train from the moment he was drafted, so I’m on board for sure. However, his fantasy value all depends on how many targets he gets. He only received 66 last year while Cobb and Nelson combined receiver 277. Adams’ number will go up for sure, but it’s hard to predict just how much. If there was an injury to Cobb or Nelson I could see Adams becoming a reliable No. 2 real life and fantasy receiver. However, if that doesn’t happen Adams is still probably outside the top 40 of fantasy receivers unless he gets a big touchdown total like the 14 James Jones had in 2012. His upside is huge though, and that’s what fantasy owners look for when drafting players for their bench.

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Matt Bove is a writer at PackersTalk.com. PackersTalk.com. You can follow him on twitter at @RayRobert9.

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