Adams was the only consistent threat no matter who was throwing him the ball. On the year, Adams hauled in 74 passes for 885 yards and 10 scores. When Hundley was throwing the ball to Adams, the 25-year-old grabbed 46 balls for 543 yards and five touchdowns. With Aaron Rodgers throwing him the ball, there was not much of a difference in production, especially when compared to the other two.
Nelson or Cobb? Cobb or Nelson? Who will the Packers keep? It would not be in the best interest of the organization to keep both and go into the season with three high-priced wide receivers when they could use some of that money to plug a hole on the defensive side of the ball. Nelson and Cobb were both virtually non-existent when Hundley was at quarterback, which is one of the reasons Adams was a player the team needed to re-sign. In the next few paragraphs, I will examine the pros and cons for bringing back each player. It may happen, but I have my doubts they will keep both, as the two have a combined cap hit of more than $25 million.
First, I will give you the pros and cons of Nelson. I’ll start with the fact that Nelson and Rodgers have a chemistry that is second to none. With Rodgers as the main quarterback, Nelson had at least 1,200 yards receiving in four of the last five seasons leading up to this one, and in three of those years, he had at least 13 touchdown receptions. He has been Rodgers’ go-to weapon in crucial points of games, which includes a game-tying touchdown with 17 seconds left against Cincinnati this past year. Nelson had a poor year this year, as he had his fewest amount of receiving yards since 2009. The big play receiver only caught 53 of his 88 targets. However, he played much better with Rodgers under center in the limited games the Packers starting quarterback played in 2017. Before the injury to Green Bay’s star quarterback, Nelson had caught 20 passes on 29 targets for 240 yards and six touchdowns in the little over five games before Rodgers went down. Those still are not the numbers we are accustomed to from Jordy, but still, decent numbers. And he is still a major threat in the red zone. Even with a down year this year, he still has 33 touchdowns since 2014......and that was him missing the entire 2015 season.
Even though he is a fan favorite, Nelson has plenty of reasons to move on from him as well. First off, he will be 33 by the time the season rolls around. I mentioned his stats through the first five-plus games with Rodgers this past season. Well, they look better than his full season statistics, but they are not great, especially for his standards. And they are certainly not worth the around $13 million he’ll make next season if he is not let go. Even when Rodgers came back for the Carolina game, he only was targeted six times and caught three passes for 28 yards. With Hundley at quarterback, Nelson only had 214 yards receiving in those nearly nine full games, and 50 of those were in the game Rodgers was hurt in against Minnesota. Some of that may be due to him playing with Hundley for much of the year, but the more likely cause of his slide is that the soon-to-be-33-year-old has lost a step. He cannot get open like he used to. Also, No. 87 is supposed to be the deep threat, but this past season, he had just two catches of more than 30 yards and just four of at least 20 yards. He never had one game of at least 80 yards receiving and never reached 40 yards receiving in any of his last nine, and that includes the game in which Rodgers came back. The injury to Rodgers was no doubt a huge factor in the drop-off from Nelson, but it is not the only reason. I just think he has lost the speed to be a consistent deep threat, which was one of Jordy’s biggest strengths. It will be interesting to see if they keep Jordy for the final year of his contract or let him go.
Now, the biggest pro for Cobb as opposed to Nelson, is that the former does not turn 28 until late August. Despite missing a game, in the first five weeks with Rodgers healthy, Cobb had 218 yards receiving on 23 receptions in those four games he played. Then, when A.A. Ron came back against Carolina, the University of Kentucky standout had seven catches for 84 yards and a touchdown. Cobb is not a “deep threat,” but he still had four catches of at least 30 yards, and two more of at least 20 yards. Even with Hundley at quarterback, in his final nine games, he had four games of at least 50 yards receiving, and had another of more than 40, which is five more games of at least 40 yards receiving than Nelson had in the same time. Randall had more catches and receiving yards than Jordy, and Cobb caught 66 of his 91 targets, and his 653 yards receiving were second on the team, only to Adams. With Cobb playing decent with Hundley at quarterback, I think Cobb would get the nod, especially with him being five years younger than Nelson. I will say, though, that the Packers need a deep threat to go along with Adams and Cobb, and will need to do that in the draft or free agency.
There are plenty of reasons for Cobb to be kept over Nelson, but there is reason to think both might not be back in 2018. There are a number of solid free agent wide receivers out there, and if Gutekunst thinks a free agent wide receiver is better than Cobb and will command less than the near $13 million Cobb will earn next season, I am all for letting Cobb go and signing that free agent. The biggest strike against Cobb is that his stats have not been great the last two seasons, and has not lived up to his contract. He has averaged less than 700 yards receiving in his last three years since having his lone 1,000 season in 2014, certainly not even remotely close to the money he is making.
After Rodgers has his contract re-worked, I imagine Gutekunst will move on to what to do at wide receiver. Both will more than likely be asked to take pay cuts, and if both don’t, which is likely, one will be gone (I am guessing Nelson). Both could be gone, but I doubt it.
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