The Week 1 matchup between the Green Bay Packers and the Jacksonville Jaguars should see a ton of points put up on the board. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.
Fantasy football projections, Week 1: Packers-Jaguars featuring Aaron Rodgers, Jordy Nelson, Allen Robinson, more
We break down the Week 1 matchup between the Green Bay Packers in the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Green Bay Packers
Last year was a tough one for Packers wide receivers, specifically Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb. Nelson didn’t play at all after suffering a torn ACL in the preseason, and Cobb -- widely expected to rack up fantasy points due to Nelson’s absence -- struggled to beat tight coverage. With both in the mix again, the Packers should be one of the top offensive teams in the league. Nelson may get off to a slow start just because he hasn’t played in such a long time, but you can bet quarterback Aaron Rodgers will find a way to get him involved. In deeper leagues, there’s no question Nelson has to start right out of the gate. He should be able to quickly regain form and will still be better than most fantasy wide receivers in a tasty matchup against the Jaguars.
Even if he doesn’t prove to be that effective in his first game in over a year, the football gods know that Rodgers will certainly benefit from Nelson’s return. Just having a top-notch receiver in the lineup as a decoy is enough to propel a quarterback of Rodgers’ caliber a notch higher. Blake Bortles will likely be playing catch-up all afternoon. Both quarterbacks should post high yardage totals and could each flirt with three touchdown passes on Sunday.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Let’s dive a little deeper into Bortles’ potential. Facing the Packers to start the season is perfect for his fantasy owners. Bortles won’t be a starting quarterback in standard formats, but in deeper leagues he indeed might be. Who knows what might be possible by midseason. He’s got two of the best fantasy wide receivers on his team in Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns, and Bortles also has a sophomore at running back in T.J Yeldon who will continue to develop. He will almost undoubtedly have to throw a high-volume of passes in order to keep up with the Packers, so he’ll be worth starting in deeper leagues and should be able to beat his point projections.
Robinson’s performance will have a lot to do with that. Robinson broke out last season to the tune of 80 catches, 1,400 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. His numbers jumped dramatically in almost every statistical category and it’s clear now that he deserves to be mentioned among the league’s elite receivers for years to come. Most gambling aficionados will take the Packers to win this game, but from a fantasy perspective, Robinson might come out leading all of the top talent on both teams in point production.
