Fantasy Football: 5 Wide Receivers Who Could Outscore Their Higher-Drafted Teammates

Randall Cobb, Green Bay Packers (ADP: 8.04)

Teammate: Davante Adams ADP: 4.07

One of the primary reasons fantasy players are ignoring Randall Cobb is that he's put up two disappointing seasons in a row, the latter of which saw the emergence of Davante Adams as Aaron Rodgers' number-two target.

Cobb is being overlooked in fantasy football this season -- it's instructive to remember the blazing start he got off to last season and why his production tailed off: he was hurt.

From Weeks 1 to 7 of the 2016 season, Cobb was commanding a 21.5% market share and delivering 15.6 PPR fantasy points per game. But after injuring his hamstring, Cobb wasn't the same, putting up 7.9 PPR points per game. Adams saw an 18.0% target share before and after the Cobb injury, so Rodgers didn't overcompensate for Cobb's injury by giving him a higher workload.

Yes, Cobb's efficiency and consistency have fallen off in each of the last two seasons. But Cobb also isn't a number-one receiver. Thus, his struggles in 2015 were more likely because he was being guarded by teams' top cornerbacks in the absence of Jordy Nelson. And even our metrics can't account for the effects of injury, which hampered his production significantly in 2016.

Finally, Cobb showed signs of a re-emergence in the playoffs after resting the final two games of the season, putting up a 6-reception, 87-yard, 1-touchdown average across the team's three playoff games -- much more in line with his early-season performance.

Saying that a healthy Cobb couldn't slide right back into his role as Rodgers' number-two receiver is foolhardy. Rodgers is good enough to support three very productive receivers, but Cobb could relegate Adams to his more familiar number-three role again this season.