Athletes everywhere are quick to boast how they’ll shatter last season’s performance, even if that particular campaign was a career-best year.
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb, on the other hand, isn’t expecting to match his 2014 output of 91 receptions, 1,287 yards and 12 touchdowns.
On the surface, that sounds like a disappointing statement from someone who signed a four-year, $40 million contract in March. But the Kentucky product has a simple reasoning for that belief, as Mike Spofford of Packers.com notes: Davante Adams.
“Davante coming along, that adds a target, and he’s going to get more target. I look forward to this receiving corps. We’ve got a great offense, a lot of weapons. It’s going to be hard to top what I did last year.”
Adams recorded a purely decent 38 catches on 66 targets in 2014, tallying 446 yards and three scores, but his late-season emergence demanded attention around the league.
As teams attempted to silence Cobb and Jordy Nelson Adams stepped up and provided the offense with a true No. 3 wideout. The 6’1″, 215-pounder snagged six passes for 121 yards against the New England Patriots, and then during the playoffs, Adams tallied seven receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown versus the Dallas Cowboys.
Green Bay boasts a league MVP in quarterback Aaron Rodgers, a powerful running back in Eddie Lacy and elite receivers in Nelson and Cobb, so touches are already limited. Now that Adams has solidified his place, some of the latter three Packers might not post such gaudy numbers.
However, that should cause a few sleepless nights for opposing secondaries, because Green Bay is only adding weapons to its top-rated offense.
Photo: USA Today Sports