Aaron Rodgers, James Jones, Randall Cobb Post-Week 3 Fantasy Advice

It’s Aaron Rodgers’ world, and the rest of the NFL is just living in it.

The Green Bay Packers signal-caller torched the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night during his team’s 38-28 victory that wasn’t even as close as the final score indicated. He was in complete control the entire time and likely won plenty of fantasy football games in the process.

His top receivers also came through in a big way, as evidenced by their final tallies:

Completions	Passing Yards	Touchdowns	Interceptions	Rushing Yards	Fantasy Points
24-of-35	333	5	0	16	34.92

Player	Catches	Receiving Yards	Rushing Yards	Touchdowns	Targets	Fantasy Points
Randall Cobb	7	91	12	3	12	28.3
James Jones	7	139	0	1	8	19.9

There isn’t much ground to break with Rodgers when having fantasy discussions. Unless you somehow managed to draft both Rodgers and Tom Brady for your team, the Packers quarterback is a no-brainer start every week. Even if you do have Brady, the decision would be a coin toss between the two best quarterbacks in the league at this point.

NFL Network analyst Michael Robinson did not shy away from offering effusive praise to Rodgers:

The fact that Rodgers could even be in the discussion for the greatest of all time is an indication that he is a fantasy lock anytime he takes the field. He threw for 4,381 passing yards and 38 touchdowns in 2014 (his fifth season with more than 4,000 passing yards and third in the last four years with at least 38 touchdowns) and is on his way to another incredible campaign.

As long as he is taking snaps, the Packers will be a viable threat to win the Super Bowl, and your fantasy team will be in good hands.

Perhaps the most incredible thing about Rodgers is his ability to keep posting video game numbers for fantasy owners even as injuries take out some of his top targets. Jordy Nelson (knee) is out for the season, and Davante Adams missed the second half after suffering an ankle injury.

Ian Rapoport of NFL.com noted Adams reaggravated his high-ankle sprain and is “expected to miss some time.”

In normal circumstances, fantasy owners would be leery about playing a quarterback who is missing some of his top options, but nothing about Rodgers is normal. He establishes complete control of the game from the early going and makes his receivers look like superstars by hitting them in stride with bullet passes.

No receiver was a bigger fantasy superstar Monday than Cobb.

He found the end zone on three catches and looks more than comfortable as the No. 1 option without Nelson. Rodgers targeted him a game-high 12 times and made it clear who the top Green Bay pass-catching threat is this season, especially after Cobb notched 116 receiving yards in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks.

Fantasy owners who were worried that Cobb’s 1,287 receiving yards and 12 touchdown catches in 2014 were a byproduct of playing alongside Nelson can take a deep breath after Monday’s game. The top receiver option with Rodgers at quarterback represents easy points in fantasy circles.

The explosive Cobb even got involved in the rushing attack against the Chiefs with a 12-yard carry.

The scary thing with Rodgers and Cobb is the fact that their next game comes against the San Francisco 49ers. In its last two games, San Francisco gave up 369 passing yards and three touchdowns from Ben Roethlisberger, 195 receiving yards and a score from Antonio Brown, 311 passing yards from Carson Palmer and 134 receiving yards and two touchdowns from Larry Fitzgerald.

Topnotch quarterback-receiver duos have torched San Francisco in the early going this year, and arguably the best one in the league is next up on the schedule.

Cobb is far from the only receiver Rodgers has turned into fantasy gold this year. 

The New York Giants released James Jones before the season, but playing alongside the superstar quarterback has revitalized the pass-catcher’s career. Jones recognized Rodgers’ greatness in this postgame quote, per Albert Breer of NFL Network:

Jones tallied a team-high 139 receiving yards and was second on the Packers (behind only Cobb) with eight targets. Jones has found the end zone in every game this season, and Rodgers is utilizing Jones' 6’1”, 208-pound size as a physical red-zone threat. That is what fantasy owners who are counting on Jones touchdowns want to hear.

It is easy to point to Rodgers as the reason for Jones’ early production, but he tallied a respectable 666 receiving yards and six touchdowns for the Oakland Raiders last year. The talent is not in question, and playing with Rodgers only highlights the ability already in place, especially since the two players are familiar with each other from Jones’ seven previous years with the Packers.

The two were on the same page Monday, as this highlight from the NFL indicates:

With Adams potentially ailing for some time, Jones is the clear-cut secondary option behind Cobb in Green Bay’s aerial assault. That makes the former Oakland Raiders pass-catcher a must-start for the foreseeable future.

If you are fortunate enough to have Green Bay playmakers on your team, make sure they are in your lineup every week until an opposing defense proves it can slow them down.