Receiver Analysis: Why The Packers Need Randall Cobb

Jones is almsot surely leaving in FA. I really don’t see a way he returns… This season I would like to see Jennings and Nelson starting. Nelson would help the run blocking a little on the outside and it would help save Drivers legs. I don’t think Driver can last playing full-time and he can still get nearly as many targets as the 3rd WR. Cobb is a gonna be the #4 WR this season and will probably move up to #3 in a year or 2. I don’t know if he’ll ever move beyond #3, as he might be too valuable as a return man to risk starting and Nelson is a much better blocker than Cobb. I really think Nelson is ready to be a very good #2 WR, this year. He’s been growing each year and showed up in the SB big time! Granted it was only one game, but it was also on the biggest stage. Most 4 WR formations will have Finley at one of the WR spots, really only leaving 3 WR spots open. As long as Finley is around, hopefully a LONG time, all the WR after Jennings will be mostly role players.

I think Strohman is correct in that Cobb will be a #3 slot guy for his first few seasons. Cobb’s selection wasn’t to provide competition for Jones or Nelson for a wideout spot,but to give a new weapon for McCarthy with a Percy Harvin-lite slot presence and a kick return option. I’ll be looking for the four wideout look with Jennings and Cobb to one side and Finley and Nelson to the other. What a feast for Rodgers!

Jones can be electric when he gets the ball and can make some plays happen. He also has a knack for getting open time and time again. It takes skill to be able to separate from a defender in the NFL and he has that. The problem is that he gets a nasty case of the dropsies. Worse yet he seems to get it at the worst possible times too (hello Philly and SB).

Nelson seems a more consistent guy, but he also doesn’t really do anything spectacular either. He blocks well enough, he gets open well enough, he has more speed than it looks like but nothing that’s going to make a defense pay. He’s not nearly as streaky, but he’s also not going to give you as many game breaking plays….or if he does it’s due to scheme or route running rather than making something happen just because he has the ball.

Really both of these guys maximize their value in the platoon system that we have. I guess I’m not as pessimistic as some that Jones will go. I don’t expect it, however I do see some possibility that he’ll hang on another year. It’s very tough to tell what sort of FA is going to be out there this year. It’s very possible that some guys who aren’t near the top of the class will want to just sign with the home team in order to get back into the routine of the game and get into camp.

James Jones could easily be one of those guys. Sure he has some of that Super Bowl luster that teams tend to seek in FA, but he’s also not one of the big names on the market. If any position seems to be stacked right now it’s WR. You’ve got Rice, TO, Plex, Holmes, Edwards, and possibly Ochocinco all hitting the market at once. Jones wants his money and getting locked down in a shortened FA period in an over saturated market may not be the best situation for him…especially when you just dropped a critical pass in the SB and got out shined by Jordy Nelson.

I mean they do because that is what they will be listed on the depth chart but thats all. They have been CONSTANTLY moving players all over the field and in and out of the line up. They seem to require every receiver to know every other receiver position. Inside, outside just doesnt matter. They line up every where. They can run the same exact play from a 4 WR set with all 4 positions being mixed up. They will play all over in every position. At times Jennings will be lined up where a 4 WR normally would. Finley will be lined up where out number 1 will be. They prepare there schemes so complicated because of being able to place each guy (with the possible exception of Cobb because of less development time) where ever they want when ever they want. They are revolutionizing the WR position the same way that 2 RB committees are revolutionizing that position. We can argue about what player should be where on the depth chart but thats going to be the only place it matters, on the paper saying what the depth chart is.

He’s got hands problems as well – not as bad as Jones, but Nelson had more drops in the Super Bowl than Jones. Nelson does have very good size and deceptive speed, but he’s not in the same league when it comes to change-of-direction.

I’m not entirely confident in Jones or Nelson, but I know if we have enough usable receivers out there MM will find mismatches and get them open. I think the Super Bowl was a prime example of that – they had to pick their poison and they chose to put the least coverage on Nelson, and MM and AR took advantage of that. That’s what I want to see in the future – enough good receivers that no defense has enough good players to cover everyone, allowing MM and AR to work their magic. Add in Jennings’ and Finley’s ability to get open on their own, plus some improved pass protection, and we’ve got a recipe for success.

I was over on Arrowhead Pride last night and stumbled onto two Chiefs fans arguing over who is a better WR between Jennings and Dwayne Bowe.

The guy who was agruing for Bowe tried to claim that Jennings isn’t that good of a route runner and a rec’d the other guys replies a couple of times (in addition to jumping feet first into the argument myself, of course).

In response to the second rec, he supplied me with these. Enjoy. :)

ArrowheadPride