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Green Bay Packers experimenting with Cobb, Montgomery at RB

By Keegan Matheson

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The Green Bay Packers have seen their creative hand forced on offense after injuries to Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams have left them thin on experienced receivers. With Randall Cobb and James Jones running ahead of Ty Montgomery and Jeff Janis, the offense took a unique approach to circumventing their limitations in week four. Receivers in the backfield.

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Cobb has been a familiar sight alongside Aaron Rodgers in recent years, especially when the Green Bay Packers are struggling to find their groove on offense. This showed prominently in their 2014 matchup with the Buffalo Bills, where the passing attack was snuffed out and Cobb’s backfield usage was the primary backup plan. This past Sunday, Mike McCarthy and Tom Clements took it a step further. 

On the second series of the game, Montgomery joined Cobb in the backfield for a no-huddle package that produced immediate results. This 10 yard rush was Montgomery’s biggest impact on the day, alongside three receptions for 15 yards, and it could become more common as the season goes on.

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I’m a huge proponent of Montgomery getting carries out of the backfield, and have been since draft day. Being a return specialist that’s often compared to Cobb, many lose sight of how well built Montgomery is. He features a much thicker frame than Cobb does, with wide shoulders and powerful upper legs. This isn’t a call for 25 carries, but instead of being a wide receiver just moonlighting as a running back, he can fully look the part.

Green Bay also loaded a full-house backfield with Eddie Lacy, John Kuhn and Andrew Quarless later in the game, so this could be a position of constant change. It may be necessary, too, with Don Barclay and David Bakhtiari introducing Aaron Rodgers to every defensive lineman in the league.

These packages are also made necessary by the absence of Nelson, who gave the Packers one of football’s most consistent and dynamic deep threats. Cobb was able to put up some surprising deep numbers in 2014 himself, but without Nelson drawing safeties onto the other side of the field, that’s becoming more difficult. Jeff Janis has the potential, but given his limited route tree and experience, that’s not a reliable alternative at this time.

An improving defense should also make life easier on Rodgers, who can then hand off to Lacy and Starks more often. The no-huddle package featuring Cobb and Montgomery will be an incredible weapon, though, if the Packers find themselves trailing deep into a game. It’s also a matchup that poses difficulties for any defense, as the coverage asked of linebackers in those situations is very problematic.

Green Bay’s decision to keep Alonzo Harris over Rajion Neal and John Crockett also impacts this strategy. While Lacy is a very competent receiver on open targets, the Packers lack a natural “receiving back”, which clearly can be covered by shifting a receiver into the tailback position. With St. Louis, Denver and Carolina’s defensive units on the horizon, this creativity may need to continue.

Next: Who leads the DPOY race after week four in the NFL?

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