Fantasy Football Stock Watch: NFC North risers and fallers
By Drew DeLuca
Green Bay Packers fantasy football stock watch
Entering this spring’s NFL Draft, the Packers, led by future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers and 2019 NFL touchdown leader Aaron Jones, had a gaping hole at the wide receiver position, not to mention needs on both sides of the line. Naturally, we know what did the Pack did in the NFL Draft, right?
Yeah, about that. They inexplicably took a quarterback and running back with their first two picks and signed Devin Funchess — who has since opted out of the 2020 season — instead.
Utah State’s Jordan Love was tabbed as Rodgers’ heir apparent with the 26th overall pick, a move that had many Packers fans scratching their heads with so much incredible wide receiver talent available. The incredulous reaction continued with the second-round selection of Boston College’s A.J. Dillon as South Carolina wideout Bryan Edwards and Ohio State guard Jonah Jackson, among others, remained on the board.
Davante Adams is once again in line for a massive target share. He’s my WR2 overall as we enter the 2020 fantasy football season.
Perhaps no other returning player in the entire division saw their fantasy prospects rise higher than Allen Lazard after the draft; the Iowa State product found favor with Rodgers down the stretch while Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Equanimeous St. Brown languished in the doghouse and IR, respectively. Lazard is currently an exceptional value as the WR64 overall at the end of Round 16.
Jones reprises his role in 2020 as the lead back in Green Bay, but the addition of Dillon muddies the waters from a dynasty perspective: in addition to facing near-certain touchdown regression, Jones is in the last year of his contract on a team that has shown no interest in extending him long-term. Jamaal Williams (146 touches in 2019) also returns to the Packers’ backfield, so a distinct possibility now arises that lead back duties will change hands in 2021 and beyond.
While tight ends have been invisible parts of the Packers’ offense in years past, second-year head coach Matt LaFleur places much a higher premium on pass catchers at the position. Aging, now-departed veteran Jimmy Graham saw 60 targets last year, more than any player on the team not named Davante Adams or Aaron Jones.
Second-year tight end Jace Sternberger will battle veteran Marcedes Lewis for the starting gig in 2020. Josiah Deguara, a rookie third-rounder who displayed solid hands and above-average athleticism as a Cincinnati Bearcat, likewise enters an uninspiring mix; one will emerge as a potential plug-and-play bye week option as the 2020 fantasy football season marches on.