Green Bay Packers: Assessing The Talent Behind Randall Cobb

The way the injury bug has ravaged the Green Bay Packers through three weeks of the preseason, it was a huge surprise to see that Randall Cobb‘s shoulder injury avoided major damage.

At first glance, it looked like the Packers might be tackling 2015 without two of their biggest play makers on offense. However, the report on Cobb’s injury from the tests that have been run states that he suffered a minor AC joint sprain. While Cobb’s teammates and coaches left Saturday evening feeling as though the injury was minor in nature, it does comfort to get those hypotheses cemented.

Although collarbone injury or labrum tear, which would have kept Cobb out for a significant amount of time, was ultimately avoided, he is still uncertain for the week one opener against the Chicago Bears. In fact, his timetable has not yet been announced, which means the Packers offense has to make preparations for the game without Jordy Nelson and Cobb for an indeterminate amount of time. With this in mind

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While it may not be for long, an offense without Cobb is severely compounded by the already established loss of Jordy Nelson. If Nelson were healthy, the Packers may be able to survive a length of time without their star slot receiver. They did so in 2013 when Cobb missed nearly the entire season, though that was also compounded by the subsequent loss of All-Pro QB Aaron Rodgers. The Packers barely scraped into the playoffs and were on the couch a week later after losing to the San Francisco 49ers.

Without Cobb’s services for the first week of the regular season, Rodgers will have to make quick work of creating a rapport with some red-shirt freshmen, a bright-eyed rookie and a promising second-year phenom. Rodgers, McCarthy and others have raved about Davante Adams‘ upside and leap so far this off-season – Rodgers even going so far as to name Adams as a future candidate for the number one receiver. NFL.com, ESPN.com and local Wisconsin beat writers have all named Adams as a “making the leap” player in his second full year and he has not disappointed in training camp thus far, McCarthy dubbing him the unofficial camp MVP.

It won’t be difficult for Rodgers and Adams to get on point; they already have a full seasons work under their belt after Adams kicked former 3rd receiver Jarrett Boykin off the first-team offense and eventually off the team. However, young red-shirt players like Jeff Janis and Jared Abbredaris are another story, entirely.

Janis has come on strong in seven preseason showings, from 2014. He has hauled in four preseason touchdowns and has Jordy Nelson-like qualities, like size and speed, on the field. However, he has been criticized for his inconsistency in camp and practices and was kept on the sidelines last season because the coaching staff felt he wasn’t ready for pro-game action and was not high enough on the depth chart. Similarly, Jared Abbredaris has yet to show his capabilities, suffering an ACL tear in camp last year and from minor injuries (concussion, etc.) already in 2015.

Myles White has been apart of training camp for the last few years, but has never broke through enough to make the final roster. He has spent most of his time on the Packers’ practice squad, getting reps and getting familiar with the playbook. He had a great game Sunday night against the Philadelphia Eagles, making a one-handed circus catch that just might have put him on the Packers’ radar, for the time being.

Lastly, young 3rd round pick Ty Montgomery is called into question. Can the rookie, drafted mainly for his finesse on special teams, be the answer to Nelson/Cobb’s absence? He has flashed talents throughout training camp and in some preseason work – but will he be able to preform during the regular season when it counts? It remains to be seen.

One thing is for sure: if Cobb sits for any amount of time after September 13th, the Packers are bound to experience some growing pains without him.

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