Larrivee said on the radio this morning that on the last KO Cobb was told to down it in the EZ - 'We need the seconds more than we need the extra yards'.
One of the areas where stats are helpful is to clarify perceptions of fans. The jsonline website keeps track of passes targeted to receivers and their number of catches each game. Of course the difference between the two isn't the number of drops by the receiver because all of the passes aren't catchable. It does IMO give you an idea of how well the receiver is taking advantage of his opportunities. A fantasy football site, fftoday.com also keeps track of this and unlike jsonline they have cumulative totals for the season. I checked a few games and the stats between the two sites look similar. Anyway, guess which Packers WR has the highest percentage of catches per targeted pass. Well, since this thread is on Cobb you probably got it. Here are the percentages so far this season (I did the math) :
Cobb 77.3%
Nelson 76.2%
Jones 70.6%
Driver 69.2%
Jennings 67.7%
I'm not saying Cobb has the fewest drops but IMO some fans are exaggerating the number of drops he has this season.
According to profootball foucus, of the 55 WRs with the most catches in 2010, Jordy was 7th worst dropping 11 of 77 catchable balls. (No other Packers WR appears in the top or bottom 15 in drop percentage for 2010.) I bring this up to make the point that it's a problem that is pretty easily fixed if the player has the dedication to do so. I don't think Cobb is that bad regarding drops but with experience I do expect him to improve in that area as well as knowing the O better and being smarter on returns. BTW, the highlight of his first TD catch reminds me that he actually ran the wrong route on that play. Check out Rodgers' smile afterwards - I'm sure he's smiling because they scored but I think there's a little extra smile because they scored even with Cobb running the wrong route.
As we all know, Cobb is the best returner the Packers have had in a long time. He currently has 28 KORs for an average of 27.6 yards. That puts him at 19th in the league, but the list includes 5 players with 3 or fewer KORs. He has returned 22 punts for an average of 14.2 yards. That puts him at 14th but again the list includes 5 players with 2 or fewer PRs.
I'm very excited about the potential of Randall Cobb and look forward to the debate about whether or not the Packers should risk him at returner because he's so valuable as a WR.
