Fantasy football projections, Week 8: Packers-Broncos featuring Aaron Rodgers, Randall Cobb and Peyton Manning

The Week 8 matchup between the Green Bay Packers and the Denver Broncos features two teams with quarterbacks destined to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame someday. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.

Green Bay Packers

There really is nothing like watching two undefeated teams face-off on Sunday Night Football. If Aaron Rodgers wants to keep his team’s record spotless, he’ll need to reign victorious over a pretty good defense. Surprisingly, as good as he is, Rodgers has only had to eclipse the 300-yard passing mark once so far this season. The Packers tend to take control of games early, so there has been no reason to engage in a shootout or a comeback attempt that would necessitate high yardage totals. That said, he’s still quick on his feet and he can throw touchdowns as well as anybody else in the league. Rodgers should be up to a tough test this week.

Hopefully wide receiver Randall Cobb is also up for a challenge. He hasn’t had a productive game in a while and he’s going up against a tough secondary unit. No team has given up fewer points to fantasy quarterbacks and wide receivers than Denver. That fact is intimidating but fantasy owners can’t exactly bench a player of Cobb’s caliber. Oftentimes when a player isn’t supposed to do well statistically speaking, the numbers end up telling a different story when the final whistle sounds. That may be the case this week as Cobb is no longer listed on the team’s injury report. It’s the first time that’s happened since he first suffered his shoulder injury in the preseason.

Denver Broncos

Nobody would have guessed that an offense led by quarterback Peyton Manning would rank as one of the worst in the NFL, but that happens to be the case. He’s getting up there in age and is certainly in the twilight of his career. Perhaps a matchup against the Green Bay Packers and fellow future NFL legend Aaron Rodgers will inspire Manning to put together a fantastic performance. The more likely scenario is that he has an average game and gives his team a chance to win while the defense does the dirty work. Fantasy owners have likely been starting him based on his legacy, but the reality is Manning isn’t a surefire starter anymore in single-quarterback leagues.

Thankfully for fantasy owners of wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, Manning’s steady and obvious decline isn’t totally wiping out the receiver’s value. Sanders has passed the 100-yard receiving mark in each of the last two games and found the end zone last week. While he still does have an outside shot at catching 100 passes this season like he did last year, it’s more likely that Sanders will finish below that number given how Manning has played. Season totals aside, however, Sanders will be the key to keeping the Broncos’ offense going against a Packers team that should still put points on the board and give Denver all it can handle. Even against a good defense.

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