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2012 Fantasy Football: Packers' Randall Cobb, Bears' Brandon Marshall Wise Pickups For This Week

Bryan Gibberman gives his fantasy football advice of the week -- three players that will be on the rise and three that are overrated this week.

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Here are three players that are worth more than their current going values and three that are overrated.

Three Up

  1. Green Bay Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb -- Cobb played 38 plays and 33 of those plays were passes. He was targeted nine times and each time the pass was completed, but he did only average 8.6 yards per reception. Cobb was targeted the same amount as Greg Jennings and more than Jordy Nelson. Only player Aaron Rodgers threw to more was Jermichael Finley. Jennings might miss Thursday's game against the Bears with an injury. In Chicago's first game they allowed 309 passing yards to rookie Andrew Luck and Reggie Wayne had nine catches for 135 yards. Cobb is well worth a flex spot and I would consider him as a #2 this week.
  1. Washington Redskins running back Alfred Morris -- Remember that outside of the Terrell Davis and Clinton Portis years with Mike Shanahan in Denver the leading rushers for the Broncos were Olandis Gary, Mike Anderson, Reuben Droughns, Mike Anderson, Tatum Bell, Selvin Young and Peyton Hillis. Gary ran for almost 1200 yards in 12 games in 1999, Anderson piled up just under 1500 yards and 12 TDs in 2000 starting only 12 games, Droughns totaled 1240 yards in 15 games started, Bell hit 1025 yards in only 13 games and Selvin Young averaged over five yards a carry. Moral of the story, running backs put up big numbers for Shanny. In Week 1 Morris carried the ball 28 times, while Roy Helu and Evan Royster each only accumulated two carries. Alfred has some series potential if he can hold onto the job.
  1. Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall- I think most people thought the former Dolphins wide receiver would be a quality fantasy option, but I don't know if this was expected. Marshall was targeted by Jay Cutler 15 times compared to the next highest player on the Bears regarding targets was five. He hauled in nine of those and compiled 119 yards receiver with a touchdown. If Cutler keeps looking Marshall's direction at this rate he has top five potential.

Three Down

  1. St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson - Jackson struggled against the Detroit Lions rushing 21 times for 53 yards. He did have four catches for 31 yards out of the backfield. In PPR league's I wouldn't give up on S-Jax yet because as the Rams running game continues to struggle to get going he will see an increase in targets. Very similar, but not at the same rate the Raiders used Darren McFadden on Monday night. Starting offense tackle Roger Saffold is going to miss action and center Scott Wells will be out for significant time. An already porous offensive line just got even worse.
  1. New York Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw - Bradshaw had a nice first game for the Giants running for 76 yards on 17 carries and added in a touchdown. Overlooked is that on the Giants second drive he and David Wilson each got two carries, but on the second carry, Wilson, the rookie RB out of Virginia Tech fumbled and never took another offensive snap. It's a legitimate question to ask if Wilson doesn't fumble how many carries does Bradshaw end up with it? Giants head coach Tom Coughlin won't keep Wilson in his doghouse all season and if he can hold onto the ball Bradshaw could be limited to 10-12 carries per game.
  1. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady - Remember this is fantasy football not real football. In the Patriots Week 1 win against the Titans Brady attempted 31 passes. Only twice in 19 games last season did the Pats quarterback have 31 attempts or less. Running back Steven Ridley looked terrific and I don't think it's crazy to anticipate Bill Belichick returning to a more balanced offense than they have ran in recent years. Brady will still be good, just not worth the first round pick or money you spent in the auction on him.