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Fantasy Football: Packers WR Jeff Janis a realistic option?

By Keegan Matheson

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Jeff Janis of the Green Bay Packers is a fantasy football wildcard, but if you’re going to roster him as a flier or weekly streamer at any point during the 2015 campaign, you’ll need to be comfortable taking a complete shot in the dark.

The fantasy football season annually brings us (endless) lists on potential draft-day sleepers. Often times, these lists can be re-titled as “Biggest fantasy football disappointments” by midseason (I’m looking at you, 2014 Justin Hunter). You’ll find Jeff Janis on many of these in the wake of Jordy Nelson‘s ACL injury, and despite the recent addition of James Jones to the wide receiver group, Janis should see the field as a rotational player in 2015.

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Nelson’s most difficult attribute to replace will be the deep-pass connection with Aaron Rodgers, which Davante Adams, Ty Montgomery and Jones may struggle to produce. That’s fine, they do other things quite well. Therein lies the role of Janis, however, who could see snaps in four-receiver sets, perhaps even three-receiver sets situationally if his route-running continues to improve. Janis will be the deep threat, but the great unlikelihood of him producing a game with six receptions for 71 yards and zero touchdowns could make him a risk worth passing on.

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Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Jeff Janis is a goal line running back for fantasy football purposes. Even if he exceeds expectations in 2015, his scoresheet will be littered with 0.0 point weeks that drag down his outbursts. You’ll be crowned as your league’s fantasy guru if you grab Janis on a week where he connects on a 12-point fantasy play down the sideline at Lambeau, but on a standard-sized roster, the risk of a zero from your bye-week cover at WR3 or FLEX will torpedo your matchup.

To his credit, Janis has produced a solid preseason after appearing in just three regular season games as a rookie. He totalled 10 receptions for 149 yards and three touchdowns, building on a 2014 preseason that saw him catch two touchdown passes for 67 yards. All he does is score, but for our fake-football purposes, that can be the problem.

My advice with Janis would be to wait. The presence of Jones will scale back his snaps enough to make him unworthy of a roster spot in the early weeks of a standard league, and I’d especially look elsewhere if you were looking for a risk-reward starter to fill in for an injury. Janis still needs to prove that he can do anything at all against NFL starters in the regular season. What he possesses in terms of physical talent, Janis lacks in opportunity and experience. Find some of the latter on your waiver wire and tuck Janis into your back pocket for later evaluation.

Next: Packers 2014 NFL Draft hits, misses and maybes

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