The Green Bay Packers have Randall Cobb healthy for Week 1 and he is a top fantasy football starter along with Eddie Lacy, James Jones and Ty Montgomery for Aaron Rodgers on Sunday. Cobb was banged up in the preseason, but his shoulder injury was not serious and now he is ready to start following the season ending injury to Jordy Nelson.
The Packers lost Nelson in the preseason to an ACL injury and now he will be out for all of 2015 after having a career season last year. The Packers are still expected to be one of the contenders in the NFC and having Cobb healthy for Week 1 is huge for the offense. Cobb sprained his shoulder in the preseason, but the injury was not considered to be serious and while it was up in the air for a moment, he is ready to play in Week 1 of the season.
Cobb is stepping up as the number one receiver with Nelson out and he was already expected to be the "1B" to Nelson's "1A" for Rodgers. The injury to Nelson opens things up for Davante Parker, who is considered a sleeper candidate by many coming into the season. Adams had the chance to breakout even before the Nelson injury and now he could be in the mix to start. James Jones signed a deal after being cut by the Giants and he will be a big help in making up for the loss of Nelson.
The Packers have some depth with Adams and Ty Montgomery along with Jeff Janis, but having Nelson out for the season is a major hit. Cobb was able to practice this week and according to ESPN.com he "participated in individual drills" despite being on the injury report. Even if Cobb doesn't play his usual amount of snaps, head coach Mike McCarthy said in his press conference that he is expecting Cobb to be "ready" for the Bears.
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported that Cobb has his "range of motion still limited" after injuring his shoulder, but also quotes Cobb as saying "that's part of it." Last week Cobb said that he would be okay to play against the Bears and even if it's in a limited capacity, that's better than not having him at all. Fantasy owners without any better alternatives should start Cobb along with Adams, Jones and possibly Montgomery.
Aaron Rodgers is coming in as the highest rated quarterback in the league and he will have weapons in Cobb, Adams and Jones, who has shown some great chemistry with Rodgers over the years. Jones had 14 touchdowns in 2012 and while he was with the Raiders last season he was still fairly productive with 73 receptions. Lacy is another top player in fantasy this season and he could be primed for a huge year. Lacy has been very consistent in his two seasons with the Packers, missing just one game and rushing for 1178 and 1139 yards with 20 combined touchdowns in that span.
