10 Players You Should Be Targeting in Fantasy Football Drafts
Randall Cobb, WR, Green Bay Packers
The last time Randall Cobb was relevant in fantasy football, Sam Darnold was in high school. It's been a minute.
But there are also reasons for Cobb's recent lack of production, and it seems like these explanations are sort of being pushed aside.
Let's start things off by taking a look at just Cobb's basic numbers over the last three years.
| Year | Games | Targets | Target Share | Receptions | Yards | TD | PPR PPG | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 16 | 129 | 22.51% | 79 | 829 | 6 | 13.06 | 29th |
| 2016 | 13 | 84 | 13.55% | 60 | 610 | 4 | 11.41 | 44th |
| 2017 | 15 | 92 | 16.37% | 66 | 653 | 4 | 10.47 | 38th |
Nothing special. At least not since 2014.
Here's the thing, though. Three years ago, Aaron Rodgers wasn't exactly himself, throwing to a 5.4% touchdown rate (his career average is 6.4%) while averaging the lowest yards per game average of his career. If you recall, that was the season Jordy Nelson was sidelined, and the Packers had no alternative outside threat, as Davante Adams had yet to break out. Cobb's situation wasn't typical that season.
Then Cobb couldn't stay healthy in 2016. He played 13 games, but he was on the injury report across six weeks for both a hamstring and an ankle injury.
And we know what happened last year. Rodgers didn't play for much of the season, which hurt most Packers pass-catchers. However, when Rodgers was healthy, Cobb wasn't bad at all.
| Split | Games | Targets/Game | Rec/Game | Yards/Game | TD/Game | PPR PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| With Rodgers | 5 | 9.00 | 6.00 | 60.40 | 0.40 | 14.46 |
| Without Rodgers | 10 | 4.70 | 3.60 | 35.10 | 0.20 | 8.38 |
With Rodgers under center last year (which doesn't include the game he got hurt, where he threw four passes), Cobb averaged well over 14 points per game in PPR formats. That's better than what we saw from A.J. Green in 2017, who finished as fantasy football's 10th-best wide receiver in cumulative scoring.
Not only were Cobb's splits strong with Rodgers, but the Packers are now without Jordy Nelson, who's seen at least 22% of Green Bay's targets in each of his last three healthy seasons with Rodgers. And this time with Nelson out, they do have a legitimate outside weapon in Davante Adams.
The biggest worries with Cobb this season are his health (he had minor ankle surgery six weeks ago) and, I guess, Jimmy Graham. But Graham's not going to see the type of volume Nelson did. He'll have a hard time scoring like Nelson did, too.
In the middle rounds of drafts, Cobb makes for a great value pick.
