Packers: The gameplan for replacing Randall Cobb
By Kwaku Larbi
Option #2: The Draft
Options available in the draft?
Honorable mentions: Greg Dortch, Penny Hart, DaMarkus Lodge, Mecole Hardman, Johnnie Dixon
Option Two for the Packers starts on Friday, April 26. The wide receiver group in this year’s draft, while lacking in a clear No. 1, has a bevy of options for the Packers who should look to draft a wide receiver regardless of whether or not they keep Cobb.
Both Samuel and Brown could possibly be available to the Packers with pick 30 or 44 depending on when the first WR (D.K Metcalf or N’Keal Harry, however you rank them) is selected. Both would be perfect if the Packers let Cobb walk.
A large majority of Packers fans love Brown and it’s obvious why. Brown’s speed is something to covet, and as Freddie Boston put it last week, he “could be the deep threat the Packers offense desperately needs”.
Samuel is my favorite receiver prospect and a real talent. Sadly, for whatever reason he’s being underrated. Watch a few of his highlights and you really get a sense of that aggression and toughness needed when the middle of the field is your home.
Jacob Schyvinck of NFL Mocks has him down as a second-round option, and Matt Miller of Bleacher Report has him ranked as the eighth receiver in his Top-50 Big Board. The Packers should pray that every other team views him this way because they could have a real difference-maker fall right in their lap.
If the Packers want a new slot WR, sign Jamison Crowder/Golden Tate or draft Hunter Renfrow/Andy Isabella. Those are better options. https://t.co/qLrT8K03Rk
— Peter Bukowski (@Peter_Bukowski) January 23, 2019
Andy Isabella and Hunter Renfrow are the yin-yang options that’ll be available to the Packers in the later rounds of the draft.
The 5-foot-10 Isabella has speed that is off the charts may be even on par with Hollywood. Kyle Crabbs of the Draft Network notes that “…his short area acceleration is more impressive than his second gear” and that his “motor and effort are admirable, even in disadvantageous situations”, which is all the Packers franchise could ask for.
Then there’s Hunter Renfrow…
What he lacks for in speed he makes up for in route-running prowess, grit and a set of very sticky hands.
I love Renfrow, partially because he looks like something out of Bill Belichick’s dream journal, but also because he has exactly the same qualities that make Julian Edelman such a favored target in that New England system. He could be the Edelman to Rodgers’ Brady…