Packers' Randall Cobb reached historic milestone in 2017

-- Many fans already know the worth of Randall Cobb in the Green Bay Packers' offensive plans, which go well beyond a simple bickering match about his contract.

The Packers' wide receiver is set to earn $12.7 million dollars in 2018, the final year of the four-year, $40 million dollar deal he signed after his breakout 2014 season.

For someone who hasn't really come remotely close to the production he amassed during that Pro Bowl season, Cobb's contributions are more so underlying in the schematics of the offense which provides anyone to simply shrug off the notion that Cobb is very much worth the numbers of his contract.

Cobb is the epitome of a non-tight end security blanket for quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who has often spoken highly of Cobb.

"When he's healthy and playing for us, our offense is a lot different," Rodgers said at the end of the team's string of OTA practices prior to minicamp.

On top of being the first player drafted into the NFL to be born in the 1990s, Cobb has one other significant feat to add to his resume.

During last season's game against the Carolina Panthers, Cobb saw 14 targets -- seven of them being for receptions with one resulting in a touchdown. Of those 14 targets, Cobb eclipsed 600 for his career, finishing the game with 601.

In NFL history, only two receivers have more than 600 targets while maintaining a catch percentage above 70.0: Cobb and former Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots receiver, Wes Welker.

That's it.

Welker accomplished such an extraordinary feat as one of the NFL's most dynamic slot receivers for the good part of a decade prior to finishing his career with stints in Denver and St. Louis, finishing with 1,275 targets to Cobb's current 614.

Cobb, who has finished with a catch percentage above 70.0 percent in five out of seven career years, may not tally such an exponential number. However, in an offense that requires him to do a variety of different things, that's where his value comes into play.

"He's so multi-dimensional," Rodgers said. "We can put him on punt returner, split him out, put him in the backfield and give him the rock. He's done a number of different things over the years and still, he's relatively young.

"He's a tough guy to cover. He really understands coverages, route concepts, soft spots and zones. Stuff you can't really teach."

At 27 years old, Cobb's consistent hands and reliable dynamics in coverage were still a theme in 2017, even with backup quarterback Brett Hundley at the helm for a majority of the year.

Of receivers with at least 60 catches last season, Cobb had the third-best catch percentage (71.7 percent). It was his highest percentage since 2014 when Rodgers started all 16 games.

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Zachary Jacobson is a staff writer/reporter for Cheesehead TV. He's the voice of The Leap on iTunes and can be heard on The Scoop KLGR 1490 AM every Saturday morning. He's also a contributor on the Pack-A-Day Podcast. He can be found on Twitter via @ZachAJacobson or contacted through email at [email protected].

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Comments (8)

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HankScorpio's picture

June 17, 2018 at 10:56 pm

That's all well and good. It would be even better if Cobb could be efficient AND productive, instead of just efficient.

In fact, I'd gladly trade him being on this list if it meant he was on the list of WRs with 2 or more 1,000 yard season. Or 2 or more seasons with 10 TDs. I presume those lists are much less exclusive. But Cobb's not on either one of those.

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HankScorpio's picture

June 17, 2018 at 11:28 pm

I didn't even mean both benchmarks in one year. Jordy is a 4-timer in yards and 3-timer for TDs

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NickPerry's picture

June 18, 2018 at 05:30 am

I still like Cobb, maybe not $12.7 million worth but nevertheless I'm happy he's a Green Bay Packer. IMO the Packers made the right move in keeping Cobb over Nelson because I honestly believe one had to go.

In a perfect world it would have been great to get Wilkerson, Graham, Lewis, Bell, and T Will and keep Nelson but it wasn't going to happen, one had to go. After watching Nelson struggle the way he did last season the writing was on the wall. Lets face it, Cobb was/is NEVER going to win a popularity contest with Nelson. Hell I doubt many would. But Keeping Cobb, a still productive Cobb was the right thing.

I predict 75-80 catches for 850 yards and 8-10 TD's AND a catch percentage over 70 once again.

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Ryan Graham's picture

June 18, 2018 at 07:32 am

I agree NP. Cobb over Nelson is the move to make and although Nelson is more of a dan favorite it would be harder to replace the versatility in Cobb's skillset. Another thing to consider and hopefully it works out better this year is Cobb's production has always coincided with a field stretching tight end aside from 2014 when he was the only guy out there for Rodgers to throw to. Adams will obviously get his looks...hopefully Rodgers and Graham get going early so he can open up the middle of the field for Cobb the way he was able to get open early on in his career.

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stockholder's picture

June 18, 2018 at 07:51 am

I predict Last year as a packer. 50 catches = 750 yards. I still prefer him returning punts. It's irritating. His worth was returning punts first. He was a threat with the football. @ 12.7 million get him the ball. Time to Forget the backfield now. He's a WR. Keep him there. He knows the routes better than anyone.

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Archie's picture

June 18, 2018 at 09:16 am

I agree. I think Pack will prioritize WR at top of next year's draft, along with OLB. That, along with the WRs taken in 2017 & 2018 will spell the end for Mr. One-Great-Year-At-Just-The-Right-Time. The Packers are suddenly hell bent on tall WRs and Cobb is not that. $12+ MM is totally ridiculous as well. He seems like a classy smart guy but he will be lucky to get that much over 3 years in his next gig.

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PatrickGB's picture

June 18, 2018 at 09:57 am

This year might be a tough one for Cobb. But I expect he will remain a key part of our offense. He may not get the yards but he does seem to catch a whole lot of balls and that’s something that can be vital in a close game.

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KamThomps's picture

June 18, 2018 at 02:33 pm

"For someone who hasn't really come remotely close to the production he amassed during that Pro Bowl season, Cobb's contributions are more so underlying in the schematics of the offense which provides anyone to simply shrug off the notion that Cobb is very much worth the numbers of his contract."

What in the world does this horrific run-on sentence even mean?

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