Cobb wants $9M/yr so lets give it to him

[Robocop]

that would be a bad move

 

[dieterbrock]

I cringe at the thought of how good Tavon Austin would be playing in Green Bay with Rodgers throwing to him

 

[jrry32]

I don't agree. We've had decent lines. Most notably in 2010, and 2012-2013.

Our 2010 OL was not decent. They were arguably the worst run blocking unit in the NFL and were mediocre at best in pass protection...but Shurmur's offense got the ball out of Sam's hand so quickly that sacks were kept down.

That year, Steven Jackson averaged 1.2 yards before contact behind that OL...worst among the top 20 HBs in rushing yards that year.

The OL was comprised of:
LT: Rodger Saffold
LG: Jacob Bell
C: Jason Brown
RG: Adam Goldberg
RT: Jason Smith

Bell, Brown, and Goldberg were all out of the NFL after the 2011 season. I don't even need to rehash the Jason Smith story.

2012 and 2013 weren't decent OLs either. Just look at the guys on those OLs. The 2013 OL had a good stretch when Saffold was inserted at RG...but one good 6 game stretch in the past however many years doesn't do much for us. The OL needs to be fixed. Much moreso than the WR corp.

We've had some injuries and one or two bad players, but no NFL team has a perfect O-line from start to finish. If that's what it's going to take for this team to have some offensive success, then we're simply waiting for the odds to be in our favor.

There are NFL teams out there that have solid or better starters at every position on the OL.

And we can very easily plan for injuries by having depth. Which is also quite important on the OL because you know at least one or two of your OLs are going to get hurt...even if they don't miss extended time, they'll miss parts of games with bumps and bruises.

What's it going to take for this team to have offensive "success"? A QB.

What's it going to take for this team to be one of the best offensive units in football? A QB and an OL.

I think our resources are best spent making our OL great. The games are won and lost in the trenches.

When you don't have good receivers, defenses can crowd the box. When you have a stable of good receivers, defenses have to respect the threat.

That's not really true. It's not receivers that kept the defense out of the box, it's the passing game as a whole. Which means the QB and the OL.

Frankly, I say let them crowd the box. Because our WRs are good enough to make them pay if they do if we have a QB that can get the ball to them. And if we have a top tier OL, they'll immediately regret crowding the box.

Defenses may respect a great WR but they're not going to respect your passing game if you don't have a guy that can get the ball to him. And you're not going to beat teams through the air if you can't stop a four man pass rush.

When you can consistently stop four man pass rushes with your OL, you can have your way with a defense if you have a capable QB. Because you force them to blitz and leave your WRs in more advantageous match-ups.

Our WR corp currently is:
Britt(assuming he's re-signed)
Quick
Austin
Bailey
Givens

Givens is replaceable...but I don't see a need for Cobb. And if you do see a need for a top shelf WR...a guy that defenses will have to respect. Go draft DeVante Parker, Kevin White, or Amari Cooper. Those guys have the ability to be #1 WRs in this league. I don't see that in Cobb.

I don't see a guy that will push defenses out of the box if that's your goal. I don't disagree with you that the right WR can force defenses to back off...but I do disagree that Cobb is that guy.

 

[jrry32]

Cobb is not just a slot guy. He played on the outside a lot, and he has a lot of speed to someone else's post, he is a deep threat. He is very similar to Antonio Brown.

Randall Cobb is not a deep threat. He's not Antonio Brown. Cobb offers more or less what Golden Taint offers.

Cobb had 3 40+ yard catches in 2014, here they are:
http://www.packers.com/media-center...e-Fuller/2cc59664-e33d-47fa-9495-084c4f5961c1
http://www.packers.com/media-center...rd-catch/2c45a943-7dd0-4989-bc1d-6105083d2ad1
http://www.packers.com/media-center...-yard-TD/8ddf46da-a46c-4476-acf3-811e2a028fbb

Only one of Cobb's long catches last year was actually on a deep ball...and he didn't even burn the guy on the play.

That's just not Cobb's game. He's not a deep threat. He's a YAC threat. He is the type of guy that moves around a lot, works within 15 yards of the LOS, creates yard after the catch, and is willing to work the middle of the field.

And I am ready to give up on Tavon, Cobb is what we expected Tavon to be.

That's great but I doubt the Rams are ready to give up on Austin. Because I have a feeling the Rams actually want to give Austin a chance to see if he can live up to what they expected him to be.

 

[-X-]

Our 2010 OL was not decent. They were arguably the worst run blocking unit in the NFL and were mediocre at best in pass protection...but Shurmur's offense got the ball out of Sam's hand so quickly that sacks were kept down.

That year, Steven Jackson averaged 1.2 yards before contact behind that OL...worst among the top 20 HBs in rushing yards that year.

The OL was comprised of:
LT: Rodger Saffold
LG: Jacob Bell
C: Jason Brown
RG: Adam Goldberg
RT: Jason Smith

Bell, Brown, and Goldberg were all out of the NFL after the 2011 season. I don't even need to rehash the Jason Smith story.

2012 and 2013 weren't decent OLs either. Just look at the guys on those OLs. The 2013 OL had a good stretch when Saffold was inserted at RG...but one good 6 game stretch in the past however many years doesn't do much for us. The OL needs to be fixed. Much moreso than the WR corp.



There are NFL teams out there that have solid or better starters at every position on the OL.

And we can very easily plan for injuries by having depth. Which is also quite important on the OL because you know at least one or two of your OLs are going to get hurt...even if they don't miss extended time, they'll miss parts of games with bumps and bruises.

What's it going to take for this team to have offensive "success"? A QB.

What's it going to take for this team to be one of the best offensive units in football? A QB and an OL.

I think our resources are best spent making our OL great. The games are won and lost in the trenches.



That's not really true. It's not receivers that kept the defense out of the box, it's the passing game as a whole. Which means the QB and the OL.

Frankly, I say let them crowd the box. Because our WRs are good enough to make them pay if they do if we have a QB that can get the ball to them. And if we have a top tier OL, they'll immediately regret crowding the box.

Defenses may respect a great WR but they're not going to respect your passing game if you don't have a guy that can get the ball to him. And you're not going to beat teams through the air if you can't stop a four man pass rush.

When you can consistently stop four man pass rushes with your OL, you can have your way with a defense if you have a capable QB. Because you force them to blitz and leave your WRs in more advantageous match-ups.

Our WR corp currently is:
Britt(assuming he's re-signed)
Quick
Austin
Bailey
Givens

Givens is replaceable...but I don't see a need for Cobb. And if you do see a need for a top shelf WR...a guy that defenses will have to respect. Go draft DeVante Parker, Kevin White, or Amari Cooper. Those guys have the ability to be #1 WRs in this league. I don't see that in Cobb.

I don't see a guy that will push defenses out of the box if that's your goal. I don't disagree with you that the right WR can force defenses to back off...but I do disagree that Cobb is that guy.

J/K.

My main point was that our lines during those times were good enough to win with if we had better options in the passing game. You could put two corners and one safety on our 3-WR sets and that was enough to shut down the passing game and stack the box to shut down the run game. *Maybe* our wide receivers are good enough that we could do without a guy like Cobb, but I think you're severely underestimating his talents. Not that I care one way or the other if the Rams even pursue him, mind you. There are other options who may or may not be better, but that doesn't detract from my point that having a top flight O-line in the NFL isn't really commonplace. Sometimes you have to find ways to win in spite of that weakness because having 5 top tier guys healthy all year long isn't something you can count on year to year.

 

[jrry32]

My main point was that our lines during those times were good enough to win with if we had better options in the passing game.

I guess if you stacked the deck. But I think our OLs were just as bad as the WRs back then...and now, I think our WRs have an edge.

There are other options who may or may not be better, but that doesn't detract from my point that having a top flight O-line in the NFL isn't really commonplace. Sometimes you have to find ways to win in spite of that weakness because having 5 top tier guys healthy all year long isn't something you can count on year to year.

Then don't. Count on at least two of the five not staying healthy and have depth ready to play.

 

[ausmurp]

Randall Cobb is not a deep threat. He's not Antonio Brown. Cobb offers more or less what Golden Taint offers.

Cobb had 3 40+ yard catches in 2014, here they are:
http://www.packers.com/media-center...e-Fuller/2cc59664-e33d-47fa-9495-084c4f5961c1
http://www.packers.com/media-center...rd-catch/2c45a943-7dd0-4989-bc1d-6105083d2ad1
http://www.packers.com/media-center...-yard-TD/8ddf46da-a46c-4476-acf3-811e2a028fbb

Only one of Cobb's long catches last year was actually on a deep ball...and he didn't even burn the guy on the play.

That's just not Cobb's game. He's not a deep threat. He's a YAC threat. He is the type of guy that moves around a lot, works within 15 yards of the LOS, creates yard after the catch, and is willing to work the middle of the field.

That's great but I doubt the Rams are ready to give up on Austin. Because I have a feeling the Rams actually want to give Austin a chance to see if he can live up to what they expected him to be.

I feel like prior to last yr (Cobb was more like Golden Taint in 2014 but even still that is not a slot WR, that is an outside threat with YAC skill who plays bigger than his size at 5'10 or whatever), Cobb was more of a deep threat and was a burner as you can see from his punt return skills. He was more like Antonio Brown at that stage, I think GB under utilized him on purpose with his contract coming to an end. Regardless Cobb is way WAYYYYY(with 1000 Ys) better than any WR we have on our team and if he can do what Golden Taint did in Detroit then why not sign him and pay the man. I would've loved to sign Taint and was disappointed the Rams didn't target him. Sted could be like these two BUT he is smaller in weight/muscle and these two are already established - I'm so damn tired of waiting on Rams WRs to become established just get a young established WR who can give us the consistency we need ya know? If Cobb goes somewhere else and does what Taint did, 1300+yds and 10+tds, isn't that worth the cost?

 

[jrry32]

I feel like prior to last yr (Cobb was more like Golden Taint in 2014 but even still that is not a slot WR, that is an outside threat with YAC skill who plays bigger than his size at 5'10 or whatever), Cobb was more of a deep threat and was a burner as you can see from his punt return skills. He was more like Antonio Brown at that stage, I think GB under utilized him on purpose with his contract coming to an end. Regardless Cobb is way WAYYYYY(with 1000 Ys) better than any WR we have on our team and if he can do what Golden Taint did in Detroit then why not sign him and pay the man. I would've loved to sign Taint and was disappointed the Rams didn't target him.

I actually agree with you on Taint. But we're not talking Taint here. Taint was underutilized in Seattle. Cobb was not at all underutilized in Green Bay.

Cobb being way better than anyone on this team is arguable. Brian Quick is just starting to tap into his potential. But even so, it's not about whether or not he's better...it's about the price tag. We're not getting him for free.

Golden Taint was cheaper than he should have been because of Seattle's offense. Cobb is going the other direction. He'll likely get more than he's worth because of Green Bay's offense and Aaron Rodgers.

Sted could be like these two BUT he is smaller in weight/muscle and these two are already established - I'm so damn tired of waiting on Rams WRs to become established just get a young established WR who can give us the consistency we need ya know? If Cobb goes somewhere else and does what Taint did, 1300+yds and 10+tds, isn't that worth the cost?

Stedman is the same size as Cobb but he's not really like Cobb. He has some Golden Taint in him but still a bit different. Stedman reminds me a lot of Derrick Mason.

As for Cobb, I don't see him putting up 1300+ yards and 10+ TDs on the majority of teams. Could see 1000-1200 yards and 5-6 TDs but is that worth what he's asking? IMO, no.