Week 4 Fantasy Football Picks: Replacing your Packers during the bye

This is an awkward week for talking Green Bay Packers fantasy football. This week I am just giving you some advice on what to do with all those Packers on your current roster. Last week definitely helped pay off the patience you had in starting your Packers. Eddie Lacy posted his first 100+ game in September (yes first ever), and Aaron Rodgers threw four touchdowns, Jordy Nelson catching two of them. Now though, you are getting a week without those offensive studs. Here is where you should be looking for your stopgap replacements.

Aaron Rodgers

If you were looking preseason you might have tried drafting someone gearing specifically toward this weekend (here was some interesting guidance). Ryan Tannehill is a very overlooked option at this point. People are seeing the struggles of the Dolphins and ignoring the points Tannehill is putting up (8th in ESPN standard scoring and 7th in yahoo). Right now, this top ten QB is available in 65% of ESPN leagues and 56% of Yahoo leagues. Also, Tannehill is facing a defense ranked 13th in the NFL in yards per game, but only two teams have given up more passing touchdowns. (9 TDs to 3 INTs). Kansas City’s Alex Smith is the another top choice at this point. Smith is only owned in 26% of ESPN leagues and 22% of Yahoo leagues. Add to he will be going against a defense that gives up the second most yards per game (332.0 yards/game).

Jordy Nelson

If Terrelle Pryor is still available in your league, go get him for this week. With three different quarterbacks, Pryor has seen good target share. He has had 10+ targets each of the last two weeks. Corey Coleman is out and Josh Gordon has another week off. On top of that, Pryor will face a Washington secondary that lost Breshaud Breeland to a high ankle sprain and DeAngelo Hall to an ACL tear. Washington was already giving up over 300 yards passing a game. On the other side of this same matchup is Jamison Crowder. Crowder is much further down the scoring ladder, but last week’s seven targets was a season-low. Now Crowder will be facing the Browns defense. With receivers at a premium, many are owned in over 90% of leagues, but Crowder is available in 80-90% of leagues.

Eddie Lacy

First off, how is anyone sleeping on Tevon Coleman anymore? Coleman is currently a top five running back. If you have a PPR league, he has even more value. It is pretty strange for someone in such a time share to be so valuable, but the Falcons seem to have several weapons and they are dedicated to getting the ball out and giving Matt Ryan options in the dump off game. Coleman is still available in about 20% of ESPN leagues and nearly 30% of Yahoo leagues. Again, how? Running backs are difficult and hard to find in the league right now. Hopefully you stashed away someone in your draft because there are not many bargains to be had at this point.

One of the other interesting players to watch throughout this week is Kenneth Dixon. Dixon was expected to return from injury this week. He tore his MCL during the preseason, but had been expected to start the season as the Ravens’ starting running back before that. Dixon is available in 85-90% of leagues at this point. He is clearly a risky start this week, but the chance that he might be a starting running back the rest of the way makes this a top end stash. If he is going to start this week, there is a very serious upside.

Jared Cook

Well, this call is a more serious call because Cook is injured and might miss more than the bye week. The other issue is, you probably should not own Cook because his target share with Richard Rodgers makes it tough for him to have a sustained value. Give a thought, as painful as it might be, to Kyle Rudolph. He has had at least eight targets in all three games. Sam Bradford has found Rudolph for a touchdown in both of Bradford’s starts this year as well.

Packers D/ST

You should not own the Packers defense at this point. The biggest problem is they do not seem to generate turnovers. The sacks have been very good. The Baltimore Ravens are in the same sack number range as the Packers, but the Ravens have more interceptions. Baltimore has a tough match up this week though, with Oakland heading into town. The Eagles will be a better option next week, since they are also on a bye this week, but they are a top five defense so far with great sack numbers and points from both fumble recoveries and interceptions. Again, they do not play this week, but you do need to find a year long answer if you have been starting the Packers’ Defense so far.