Don’t tell his fantasy football owners, but receiver Randall Cobb doesn’t care about stats.
The new Houston Texans receiver only cares about whether his team is piling up wins throughout the season, not whether he’s setting a new career high in a statistical category.
Case in point: 2019. The former 2011 Green Bay Packers second-round pick had a career-high 15.1 yards per reception. However, it was in the midst of a frustrating 8-8 campaign that saw the Dallas Cowboys fail to make the playoffs, the coach’s contract not renewed, and Cobb looking for a new team.
“Yeah, I did have a decent year last year in my eyes, but at the end of the day, I was on a team that went 8-8 and we didn’t make the playoffs, so what does that matter?” Cobb told reporters Tuesday.
Cobb comes over to a Texans team most analysts are counting out in 2020. The Tennessee Titans, who, though a wildcard, advanced further than the division-winning Texans in the playoffs. Such recency bias and gives them an advantage. The Indianapolis Colts also bolstered their roster with former Pro Bowl QB Philip Rivers and traded for DT DeForest Buckner.
Houston is hinging its hopes on a new-look receiving corps that is more diverse in its skillset without three-time All-Pro DeAndre Hopkins. Instead of investing resources in one superstar, the Texans’ strategy is to have a duo of deep threats in Will Fuller and Brandin Cooks and an exemplary slot receiver in Cobb. The variety of targets should help Deshaun Watson take the offense to another level, and Cobb is optimistic about that prospect.
“I think that we do have guys that can make plays downfield, myself being one of them,” said Cobb. “Given those opportunities, we have to make those plays and we have to understand the importance of picking up third downs, the importance of two-minute drives, the importance of putting points on the board in the redzone.
“It comes down to situational football and making sure that we’re on top of our jobs in those given scenarios.”
If the Texans can excel in such scenarios, Cobb could have great stats and Houston could have a bountiful win total, a win-win for everyone.
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