Randall Cobb

Pro Football Weekly draft analyst Nolan Nawrocki consistently earns high marks from media analysts for his mock drafts. He also authors Pro Football Weekly’s Draft Preview book, which contains detailed scouting reports on hundreds of NFL prospects.  For the 13th consecutive year, PFW’s staff, led by Nawrocki, is providing daily insights into the NFL draft, continuing through post-draft analysis. He has Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green as the No. 1 draft pick, with the Cincinnati Bengals taking Alabama receiver Julio Jones at No. 4.  Here are Nawrocki’s draft insights on Kentucky receiver Randall Cobb, running back Derrick Locke and receiver Chris Matthews: Question: What is your opinion of Kentucky receiver Randall Cobb?

As Randall Cobb gets set to embark on his National Football¿League career, he says his departure from Kentucky leaves an opportunity, not a void. The versatile Cobb was UK's leading scorer and receiver last year as well as a threat to return punts, run and even throw passes. He was also Kentucky's clear leader before opting not to return for his senior season and becoming a second-round draft pick of the Green Bay Packers. “They will replace me. This is a great opportunity for a lot of the young guys coming up that will be great players and this is the time for them to show their abilities,” said Cobb.

LEXINGTON — Even though he hoped to be drafted earlier than the final pick of the second round, Kentucky receiver Randall Cobb says being picked by the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers could be the perfect fit for him. “It’s probably the best thing that could have happened to me, to wait as long as I did and go to the team I did. God works in mysterious ways. For me to have the opportunity to play for Green Bay, such a powerful organization, so well known and so much tradition there, it’s going to be a great experience,” Cobb said Thursday during a break from his training routine at UK. “I talked to them at the combine (in Indianapolis)

Kentucky has one of its higher rated recruiting classes on campus now, and already had 12 scholarship commitments in its 2012 class, including four offensive linemen. Yet many Kentucky fans are worried - or even disturbed - about UK's recruiting. Some of it goes back to losing four-star players Lamar Dawson of Boyle County to USC or Jon Davis of Louisville to Illinois. Kentucky has made a habit of taking two- or three-star players - Wesley Woodyard, Jacob Tamme, Danny Trevathan, Jeremy Jarmon, Randall Cobb - and turning them into four- or five-star producers on the field.

LEXINGTON - When Bookie Cobbins was a quarterback in high school, he never gave much thought as to how tough it was for his receivers to run a precise route. Now the redshirt freshman is learning all that goes into the position since he is making a move from quarterback to wide receiver this spring. “I never knew that, I just thought it was just simple route running and catch the ball, but you've got to do so much. You've got plant well you've to come out well and worry about what the (defensive back)

LEXINGTON ? Kentucky center Jorge Gonzalez has been named Southeastern Conference offensive lineman of the week for his play in UK's 36-13 victory over Louisiana-Monroe. The senior helped the Wildcats amass 330 yards of total offense and average 6.3 yards per play in the victory. Gonzalez had the key block on Randall Cobb's 11-yard touchdown run and graded out at 86 percent when the coaches evaluated the film. He also did not allow a sack. "I knew he had a great game and to grade out that high is really hard," said UK senior guard Christian Johnson.

D.J. Warren was a two-time all-state player at Alcoa (Tenn.) where he played defensive end, linebacker and running back for teams that went 44-1. He certainly has football in his bloodline, too, because his cousins are former UK star and current Green Bay standout Randall Cobb as well as Brandon Warren, who played at Florida State. Warren, a freshman, has become Kentucky's No. 1 fullback and quickly adopted to college football just as former Alcoa players have. Here are insights he shared about himself and Kentucky: Question: How much influence did it have on you that former Alcoa players Kyrus Lanxter, Randall Cobb and Tyler Robinson all came to Kentucky before you?

I voted. Six of them counted. The Lexington Herald-Leader Sportsman of the Year will be announced tonight during the Bluegrass Sports Awards banquet at the Marriott Griffin Gate Resort and Spa. Ten individuals - Teddy Bridgewater, John Calipari, Randall Cobb, Anthony Davis, Dermontti Dawson, Tom Jurich, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Darius Miller, Charlie Strong, A'dia Mathies - are among the finalists for the award. The list of nominees on the mailed ballot featured 112 names of individuals deserving of receiving the prestigious hardware.

For the last six years, there has been close to one given on the Kentucky football team — when the Cats needed a big play, No. 18 was more than capable of making it. From 2005 through 2007, it was tight end Jacob Tamme wearing No. 18 for the Wildcats. He had a knack for making clutch catches on throws from Andre Woodson and helped UK beat eventual national champion LSU and Georgia in goal-post games at Commonwealth Stadium and also was part of two straight bowl wins. From 2008 through 2010, it was versatile Randall Cobb wearing No. 18. He could make a huge play running, throwing, receiving or returning kicks.

HOOVER, Ala. — When it comes to Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke, Joker Phillips doesn’t mince words. “Those are two dynamic players. No question about that. I think the coaches in this league think so, too. They named them both on the (all-conference preseason) first team,” the Kentucky coach said last week during the Southeastern Conference football media days. “We have to get the ball in their hands. We did last year. Those two guys are the reasons we had the rushing stats we had and why we had the number of wins we did. We have to do the same this year.

For Larry Warford, what he thought was the right decision turned out to be exactly the right thing for him. The University of Kentucky offensive lineman was picked in the third round Friday by the Detroit Lions with the 65th overall pick - the third pick in the third round - and is going to a team that listed bolstering its offensive line as a pre-draft goal. To understand how impressive Warford's pick, consider two things: n Randall Cobb, one of the best players ever at UK, was taken with the 64th overall pick by Green Bay two years ago and has blossomed into a NFL star.

I voted. Six of them counted. The Lexington Herald-Leader Sportsman of the Year will be announced tonight during the Bluegrass Sports Awards banquet at the Marriott Griffin Gate Resort and Spa. Ten individuals - Teddy Bridgewater, John Calipari, Randall Cobb, Anthony Davis, Dermontti Dawson, Tom Jurich, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Darius Miller, Charlie Strong, A'dia Mathies - are among the finalists for the award. The list of nominees on the mailed ballot featured 112 names of individuals deserving of receiving the prestigious hardware.

He's got a long list of celebrities again participating, but Jacob Tamme knows why the third annual Swings For Soldiers Classic on Monday in Lexington again looks like it is going to be a successful fundraiser for Homes for Our Troops. “We have people who care about what we are doing,” said Tamme, the former Boyle County and Kentucky standout who now plays for the Denver Broncos. “There are so many things for people to be involved with that are good causes, but here you see the impact you can have on a family.” Homes for Our Troops has a simple mission: To build specially adapted homes for wounded veterans as the needs grows because  more servicemen and women are coming home without the mobility needed to operate in their previous home.

He grew up a Florida and Florida State fan, but 175-pound running back Khalid Thomas had a bigger tie to Kentucky - his brother, Kadeem, is a freshman linebacker for the Wildcats - and now the Tallahassee standout has decided he also wants to be a Wildcat. Thomas rushed for 958 yards and 16 touchdowns on 133 carries last season for Godby High School and also had 421 yards receiving. On defense, he made 17 tackles and had two interceptions. He will be a four-year starter at running back and three-year starter at defensive back, but he's projected as an offensive player in college.

It's always a little humbling to attend the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (NSSA) awards ceremony in Salisbury, N.C., and see all the talented folks from across the country who win awards. However, this year's three-day event was a lot of fun for me for one reason - there was so much Cat chat. That's right, it seems like every function I ran into someone who wanted to talk about University of Kentucky sports. It started the first night when I had dinner with Lance Allan, the Wisconsin sportscaster of the year who just happens to cover the Green Bay¿Packers.

With the success that baseball, softball and tennis teams have had at the University of Kentucky this spring, some have wondered why the UK football team has not been able to challenge for Southeastern Conference titles like those teams have done. Kentucky had been to five straight bowl games from 2006-2010 before dipping to a 5-7 finish last season that included a rare season-ending win over Tennessee. Yet even during UK's record straight five bowl seasons, the Wildcats were only 36-29 overall and never won more than eight games.

LEXINGTON - When Bookie Cobbins was a quarterback in high school, he never gave much thought as to how tough it was for his receivers to run a precise route. Now the redshirt freshman is learning all that goes into the position since he is making a move from quarterback to wide receiver this spring. “I never knew that, I just thought it was just simple route running and catch the ball, but you've got to do so much. You've got plant well you've to come out well and worry about what the (defensive back)

Thanksgiving isn't the same without football and there will be plenty of games to go around Thursday. For starters, Green Bay will try to keep its perfect season intact against Detroit as most families gather around the table for turkey, dressing and all of the trimmings. This season, the Packers have a dose of local flavor featuring former University of Kentucky standouts Randall Cobb and Tim Masthay, giving National Football League fans in the state one more reason to watch the Packers and Lions on Thursday.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky graduate assistant coach Tommy Cook had 74 catches for 951 yards and six touchdowns during his UK career from 2000-05 and spent almost five years in surgical sales before returning to his alma mater to begin what he hopes turns into a long coaching career. Cook, a Texas native, works with the wide receivers and special teams. He offered these observations on UK's season and the receivers as well as his future: Question: How much will the win over Jacksonville State help Kentucky's offense?

Kentucky coach Joker Phillips says that while current Green Bay rookie standout Randall Cobb was UK's most dynamic player last season, the player the Wildcats miss the most this season is quarterback Mike Hartline. That's right. Not Cobb, perhaps the nation's best all-purpose player in 2009 and 2010, but Hartline, the quarterback who often was criticized but seldom praised by Kentucky fans. “Everybody talks about Randall. We've been studying this thing. The guy who made the huge difference, Mike Hartline,” said Phillips.