Randall Cobb (American football)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Randall Cobb II
refer to caption
Cobb with the Green Bay Packers in 2017
No. 18 – Green Bay Packers
Position:Wide receiver
Personal information
Born: (1990-08-22) August 22, 1990 (age 31)
Maryville, Tennessee
Height:5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school:Alcoa High School
(Alcoa, Tennessee)
College:Kentucky (2008–2010)
NFL Draft:2011 / Round: 2 / Pick: 64
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
  • Pro Bowl (2014)
  • PFWA All-Rookie Team (2011)
  • First-team All-American (2010)
  • 2× First-team All-SEC (2009, 2010)
Career NFL statistics as of 2021
Receptions:591
Receiving yards:7,168
Rushing yards:364
Rushing average:5.8
Return yards:2,792
Total touchdowns:56
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Randall Ladonald Cobb II (born August 22, 1990) is an American football wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Kentucky, and was selected by the Packers in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He also played one season each for the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans.

Early life[]

Cobb was born to Randall Cobb Sr. and Tina Cobb. Randall Sr. worked at the Denso car parts factory in Maryville, Tennessee and also worked side jobs in the evenings, ranging from installing ceramic tile floors to mowing lawns and plowing snow, with young Randall II helping. Tina, who was a track star in high school, later worked at Denso, where she met Randall Sr.[1]

High school career[]

Cobb attended Alcoa High School in Alcoa, Tennessee, where he was a letterman in football, basketball, and track.[2] His football team was a four-time State Champion in Class AA and Cobb received a "Mr. Football" trophy from the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association.[3] At that time, he played both offense and defense as well as special teams but made his biggest impact as quarterback for the Tornadoes. He was an All-District basketball player as a junior, playing for Micah Marsh.

Cobb was also a track star at Alcoa. He was a four-year member of the track team, competing in sprints along with the 4 × 100 m and 4 × 200 m squads. He finished third in the state meet in the 100-meter dash his senior year, recording a career-best time of 10.75 seconds.[4] He was clocked at 21.89 seconds in the 200-meter dash at age 16. He also helped lead the Alcoa 4 × 100 m relay squad to a second-place finish in the state meet as a junior.

College career[]

Cobb played college football for the University of Kentucky.[5] During his first year, under head coach Rich Brooks, he was named to the SEC All-Freshmen team at quarterback, playing in 11 games and starting four at quarterback.[6] He accounted for 11 touchdowns as a freshman – two passing, two receiving, and seven rushing.[7]

In his sophomore season, he played mainly wide receiver as well as a significant role in the offense/special teams returning kicks, place kick holding, receiving, and also quarterback in the "Wildcat" formation. He scored 15 touchdowns – four receiving, one returning, and ten rushing during the 2009 season.[8]

In his junior season, Cobb had a new head coach in Joker Phillips, who said "He's one of the best leaders I've ever been around."[9] He scored a touchdown on a punt return against Western Kentucky.On October 9, 2010, Cobb scored four touchdowns against undefeated Auburn, tying the Kentucky school record for career touchdowns at 32. He was also the first player to score a rushing, passing, and receiving touchdown in the same game for Kentucky since Shane Boyd in 2003.[10][11] Overall, in his junior season, he finished with 1,017 receiving yards, seven receiving touchdowns, 424 rushing yards, five rushing touchdowns, 58 passing yards, and three passing touchdowns.[12] After his junior season, he declared for the NFL Draft.[13]

While at Kentucky, Cobb majored in Community Communications and Leadership development.[14]

Collegiate statistics[]

Randall Cobb Rushing Receiving
Year School Conf Class Pos GP Att Yds Avg TD Rec Yds Avg TD
2008 Kentucky SEC FR QB 11 79 316 4.0 7 21 197 9.4 2
2009 Kentucky SEC SO WR 12 94 573 6.1 10 39 447 11.5 4
2010 Kentucky SEC JR WR 13 55 424 7.7 5 84 1,017 12.1 7
Career 36 228 1,313 5.8 22 144 1,661 11.5 13

Professional career[]

External video
video icon Cobb's NFL Combine workout
video icon Cobb gets drafted by Green Bay
Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press Wonderlic
5 ft 10+14 in
(1.78 m)
191 lb
(87 kg)
31 in
(0.79 m)
9+38 in
(0.24 m)
4.46 s 1.60 s 2.66 s 4.34 s 7.08 s 33.5 in
(0.85 m)
9 ft 7 in
(2.92 m)
16 reps 25[15]
All values are from NFL Combine[16][17]

Green Bay Packers[]

Cobb in 2012

The Green Bay Packers selected Cobb in the second round (64th overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft. Cobb was the seventh wide receiver drafted in 2011.[18]

2011 season[]

On July 29, 2011, the Green Bay Packers signed Cobb to a four-year, $3.20 million contract that included $1 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $834,124.[19]

On September 8, 2011, in the Packers' opening game of the season against the New Orleans Saints, Cobb became the first person born in the 1990s to play in the NFL.[20] Cobb recorded his first NFL touchdown on a 32-yard reception in the first quarter, and followed up with a 108-yard kickoff return in the third quarter that tied the record set by Ellis Hobbs of the New England Patriots in 2007 for longest kickoff return in NFL history. The return was later named Play of the Year at the season-ending NFL Honors banquet.[21][22]

In a Monday Night Football game against the Minnesota Vikings on November 14, Cobb scored his second special teams touchdown of the year on an 80-yard punt return in the first quarter.[23] With that, Cobb became the first rookie in Packers history to return both a kick and a punt for a touchdown in the same season. For the season, he caught 25 passes for 375 yards (a 15.0 average) and one touchdown. His most impressive statistics were on special teams, as he returned 34 kicks for 941 yards (a 27.7 average) and one touchdown and 26 punt returns for 295 yards (an 11.3 average) and one touchdown.[24][25]

2012 season[]

In 2012, Cobb played in 15 games including eight starts. He led the team in receptions with 80 and receiving yards with 954 and was second on the team with eight touchdowns.[26] He set a single-season franchise record with 2,342 combined net yards—954 receiving, 132 rushing, 964 on kickoff returns (a 25.4 average), and 292 on punt returns (a 9.4 average) including one touchdown.[27] He also led the NFL in that category.[28] He was named a Pro Bowl first alternate as a kick returner.[24]

2013 season[]

In 2013, Cobb was limited to six games (including four starts) due to a broken fibula injury suffered in Week 6 against the Baltimore Ravens. Up until his injury, which kept him on the sidelines until the season's final game, he led the Packers with 29 receptions and was second in receiving yards with 378. He also rushed four times for 78 yards, a 19.5 average. He returned to play in the regular season finale against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. He caught a memorable 48-yard game-winning touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers late in the fourth quarter to win the NFC North title for the Packers.[24][29][30][31]

2014 season[]

Cobb was on pace for personal bests through the first 10 games of the 2014 season, with 54 receptions for 779 yards (a 14.4 average) and an already career-high (and league-leading) 10 touchdown receptions from Aaron Rodgers, including at least one touchdown in eight of 10 games.[32] In the Packers' 10th game, he had season-highs with 10 receptions and 129 receiving yards against the Philadelphia Eagles.[33] On January 19, Cobb was named as a replacement for Dez Bryant in the Pro Bowl.[34] He had one reception for nine yards in the game.[35]

Cobb finished the season with 91 receptions on 126 targets for 1,287 yards and 12 touchdowns.[36] He was ranked as the 100th best player in the NFL by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2014.[37]

2015 season[]

On March 7, 2015, the Green Bay Packers signed Cobb to a four-year, $40 million contract with a signing bonus of $13 million.[38][19] After signing the deal, Cobb explained his thought process. "At the end of the day, my heart was in Green Bay, and I knew that's where I wanted to be. I knew I had a good thing going for me, and still I signed a pretty lucrative deal that I can handle as far as making that last for the rest of my life."[39] Cobb also mentioned that the NFC Championship loss to the Seattle Seahawks still bothered him. "Obviously, that loss still hurts. It still feels fresh. I want to win a championship, and we were right there. We were close. We didn't do what we needed to do to win, but we have a lot of the guys coming back this year, same guys. A lot of our core guys, and we believe that puts us in the mix. So we have to handle business this offseason as far as continuing to get better on a daily basis. Obviously, next season, we have to put ourselves in position to go on a run."[39]

In 2015, Cobb had one of his best seasons as teammate Jordy Nelson went down with an ACL in the preseason, posting only six touchdowns.[40] On December 3, during the "Miracle in Motown" win, Cobb recovered a James Starks fumble to give the Packers their first touchdown of the game to make the score 20–7 in favor of the Detroit Lions. The Packers would win 27–23 after a Rodgers to Rodgers Hail Mary.[41]

Cobb finished the season with 79 receptions on a career-high 129 targets for 829 yards and six touchdowns. Cobb's 448 yards after the catch ranked eighth among NFL wide receivers in 2015.[42]

2016 season[]

On September 16, 2016, Cobb was fined $9,115 for pulling the face mask of linebacker Paul Posluszny in Week 1 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.[43] Cobb finished the season with 60 receptions on 84 targets for 610 yards and four touchdowns.[44] In the Wild Card Round against the New York Giants, Cobb had five receptions for 116 yards and three touchdowns, including catching a 42-yard Hail Mary from Aaron Rodgers at the end of the second quarter.[45]

2017 season[]

In the 2017 season, Cobb finished with 66 receptions for 653 yards and four touchdowns despite losing starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers.[46] For the first time in his professional career, the Packers finished with a 7–9 record and did not make the playoffs.[47][48]

2018 season[]

On September 9, 2018, Cobb caught nine passes for 142 yards and a touchdown in the season-opener against the Chicago Bears. He recorded a career-long 75-yard touchdown reception late in the fourth quarter to give the Packers the go-ahead score in the 24–23 victory. This game marked his 15th career game with at least 100 receiving yards.[49] After two games with four receptions each, Cobb suffered a hamstring injury and missed the next five weeks, appearing for limited duty in Week 8 and Week 9 (for a total of nine receptions).[50] Overall, he finished the 2018 season with 38 receptions for 383 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns.[51]

Dallas Cowboys[]

On March 19, 2019, the Dallas Cowboys signed Cobb to a one-year, $5 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $2 million, to be the team's slot wide receiver.[52] Cobb caught his first touchdown with the Cowboys in the first week of the 2019 season with 9:48 left in the third quarter in their home opener against the New York Giants. Cobb finished the game with four catches for 69 yards and a touchdown in the 35–17 win.[53]

In Week 10 against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football, Cobb caught six passes for 106 yards and a touchdown in the 28–24 loss.[54] During Week 11 against the Detroit Lions, Cobb finished with four receptions for 115 receiving yards and a touchdown as the Cowboys won 35–27.[55] Overall, Cobb finished with 55 receptions for 828 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns.[56]

Houston Texans[]

On April 1, 2020, the Houston Texans signed Cobb to a three-year, $27 million contract that includes $18 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $6 million.[57][58][19] He was brought to be the team's slot wide receiver and help the team offset the loss of DeAndre Hopkins.

In Week 3 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cobb caught 4 passes for 95 yards and his first touchdown reception as a Texan during the 28–21 loss.[59] In Week 7 against his former team, the Green Bay Packers, Cobb recorded 8 catches for 95 yards during the 35–20 loss.[60] He was placed on injured reserve on November 25, 2020, after suffering a toe injury in Week 11.[61]

Green Bay Packers (second stint)[]

Cobb playing for the Packers in 2021.

On July 28, 2021, the Green Bay Packers traded for Cobb at the request of his close friend and former teammate, quarterback Aaron Rodgers.[62] Houston traded the rights to Cobb, and most of his salary obligations to the Packers in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick.[63] He sustained an injury on a touchdown catch during a Week 12 win over the Los Angeles Rams, and was deemed questionable to return to the game. He was placed on injured reserve on December 11.[64] Head coach Matt LaFleur announced on January 19 that he had been cleared to return for the Packers' Divisional Round playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers.[65]

NFL career statistics[]

Regular season[]

Year Team Games Receiving Fumbles
GP GS Rec Yds Avg Lng TD Fum Lost
2011 GB 15 0 25 375 15.0 61 1 3 3
2012 GB 15 8 80 954 11.9 39 8 4 1
2013 GB 6 4 31 433 14.0 48 4 0 0
2014 GB 16 16 91 1,287 14.1 70 12 3 2
2015 GB 16 15 79 829 10.5 53 6 1 0
2016 GB 13 10 60 610 10.2 47 4 1 0
2017 GB 15 14 66 653 9.9 46 4 1 0
2018 GB 9 6 38 383 10.1 75T 2 2 1
2019 DAL 15 6 55 828 15.1 59 3 2 1
2020 HOU 10 2 38 441 11.6 34 3 0 0
2021 GB 12 3 28 375 13.4 54 5 1 1
Total 142 84 591 7,168 12.1 75T 52 18 9
Source: NFL.com

Postseason[]

Year Team Games Receiving Fumbles
GP GS Rec Yds Avg Lng TD Fum Lost
2011 GB 1 0 3 38 12.7 21 0 0 0
2012 GB 2 2 6 31 5.2 8 0 1 1
2013 GB 1 1 2 51 25.5 26 0 0 0
2014 GB 2 2 15 178 11.9 31 1 1 1
2015 GB 2 2 3 38 12.7 15 1 0 0
2016 GB 3 3 18 260 14.4 42 3 0 0
Total 11 10 47 596 12.7 42 5 2 2
Source: pro-football-reference.com

References[]

  1. ^ Nickel, Lori. "Randall Cobb carries work ethic of parents with him". JSOnline.
  2. ^ Ramey, Grant. "Packers' Randall Cobb: Alcoa's Goddard Field 'special place'". The Daily Times. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  3. ^ Nearhos, Diana. "Why Packers star Randall Cobb, a former Alcoa great, also pulls for rival Maryville". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  4. ^ "Randall Cobb – Stats". Tennessee Runner.
  5. ^ "Randall Cobb College Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  6. ^ "Rich Brooks Coaching Record". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  7. ^ "Randall Cobb 2008 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  8. ^ "Randall Cobb 2009 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  9. ^ "Joker Phillips Coaching Record". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  10. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved September 13, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), UK Release. Retrieved October 11, 2010
  11. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 15, 2010. Retrieved October 11, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), Danville Advocate. Retrieved October 11, 2010
  12. ^ "Randall Cobb 2010 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  13. ^ Cosby, Chip. "UK's Cobb to enter NFL Draft". Lexington Herald Leader. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  14. ^ "Green Bay Packers: Randall Cobb". Packers.com. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  15. ^ "2011 Green Bay Packers draft picks". JSOnline.com. April 30, 2011. Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  16. ^ "NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles – Randall Cobb". National Football League. Archived from the original on April 17, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  17. ^ "Randall Cobb – Kentucky, WR : 2011 NFL Draft Scout Player Profile". DraftScout.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  18. ^ Nickel, Lori (April 29, 2011). "Packers Like Cobb's Versatility". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  19. ^ a b c "Spotrac.com: Randall Cobb contract". spotrac.com. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  20. ^ Smith, Michael David (September 9, 2011). "Randall Cobb becomes first NFL player born in 1990s". Pro Football Talk. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  21. ^ Kareem Copeland, "Season-opening kickoff return wins Cobb NFL Play of the Year award", Green Bay Gazette, February 4, 2012. ("'If I did what I was supposed to do, which is stay in the end zone, like my coach told me, y’all probably wouldn't know my name right now,' Cobb said.")
  22. ^ "New Orleans Saints at Green Bay Packers – September 8th, 2011". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  23. ^ "Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers – November 14th, 2011". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  24. ^ a b c http://prod.static.packers.clubs.nfl.com/assets/docs/2014/2014-packers-83-268.pdf
  25. ^ "Randall Cobb 2011 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  26. ^ "2012 Green Bay Packers Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  27. ^ "Randall Cobb 2012 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  28. ^ "2012 NFL Kick & Punt Returns". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  29. ^ "Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears – December 29th, 2013". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  30. ^ "Randall Cobb 2013 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  31. ^ "2013 Green Bay Packers Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  32. ^ "2017 NFL Player Receiving Stats – National Football League – ESPN". ESPN.
  33. ^ "Philadelphia Eagles at Green Bay Packers – November 16th, 2014". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  34. ^ "Green Bay Packers: Randall Cobb". Packers.com.
  35. ^ Dierberger, Tom (January 27, 2017). "History of Green Bay Packers in the Pro Bowl". Fox Sports. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  36. ^ "Randall Cobb 2014 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  37. ^ "'Top 100 Players of 2015': No. 100 Randall Cobb". National Football League. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  38. ^ Rosenthal, Gregg (March 7, 2015). "Randall Cobb, Packers agree to four-year, $40M deal". National Football League. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  39. ^ a b Wood, Ryan (March 10, 2015). "NFC Championship loss influenced Cobb's return". Packers News. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  40. ^ "Randall Cobb 2015 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  41. ^ "Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions – December 3rd, 2015". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  42. ^ "Randall Cobb Advanced Stats and Metrics Profile: Yards After The Catch". PlayerProfiler.com.
  43. ^ Jones, Brian (September 16, 2016). "Report: Randall Cobb fined by NFL for penalty against Jaguars". 247 Sports. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
  44. ^ "Randall Cobb 2016 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  45. ^ "Wild Card – New York Giants at Green Bay Packers – January 8th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  46. ^ "Randall Cobb 2017 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  47. ^ "Randall Cobb Playoffs Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  48. ^ "2017 Green Bay Packers Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  49. ^ Hodkiewicz, Wes (September 14, 2018). "Randall Cobb continues to be Packers' constant in passing game". Packers.com. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  50. ^ Kruse, Zach (November 10, 2018). "Packers WR Randall Cobb struggling since Week 1". Packers Wire. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  51. ^ "Randall Cobb 2018 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  52. ^ "WR Randall Cobb, Cowboys Agree To Terms". DallasCowboys.com. March 19, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  53. ^ "Prescott lightens Elliott's load as Cowboys top Giants 35–17". ESPN. Associated Press. September 8, 2019. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  54. ^ "Cook leads Vikings to 28–24 prime-time road win over Cowboys". ESPN. Associated Press. November 10, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  55. ^ "Cowboys get huge day from Prescott, beat Lions 35–27". ESPN. Associated Press. November 17, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  56. ^ "Randall Cobb 2019 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  57. ^ Barshop, Sarah (March 17, 2020). "Source: WR Randall Cobb joining Texans on 3-year, $27M deal". ESPN. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  58. ^ "Texans agree to terms on the following moves". HoustonTexans.com. March 21, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  59. ^ "Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers – September 27th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
  60. ^ "Green Bay Packers at Houston Texans – October 25th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  61. ^ Alper, Josh (November 25, 2020). "Texans put Randall Cobb, P.J. Hall on injured reserve". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
  62. ^ "GM on Cobb trade: 'Very important' for Rodgers". ESPN.com. July 29, 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  63. ^ "Packers announce trade with Texans, acquire WR Randall Cobb". packers.com. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  64. ^ "Packers activate LB De'Vondre Campbell from reserve/COVID-19 list". packers.com. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  65. ^ "Randall Cobb injury update: Packers WR expected to return vs. 49ers". www.sportingnews.com. Retrieved January 20, 2022.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""