A year ago he was a freshman wide receiver fighting for playing time. On opening day against Indiana State, he caught a deep 34-yard fade down the sideline and appeared to emerge as a deep threat for senior quarterback Nate Sudfeld. He caught only four passes for the rest of the season.
He was a young player looking up to seniors like Shane Wynn and Nick Stoner. Now he has to be one of the leaders of the unit despite only being a year older.
A year ago, he wore No. 10. Now, Cobbs runs his routes wearing the No. 1 jersey and the No. 1 spot on the depth chart.
“Just the confidence I’m coming in with this year — I built it for myself,” he said.
The changes are not just from a year ago. A month ago Cobbs came into camp talking about how wide open the receiver competition was and how great it was seeing everyone put up impressive weight room numbers. He had not earned anything yet.
Since then, Cobbs has taken one of the starting outside spots and has earned the praises of Sudfeld. Cobbs admitted his production fell off when Sudfeld went down with a season-ending shoulder injury, but he seems determined not to let that happen again.
“That’s going to change this year,” Cobbs said.
Being a starting receiver for IU is meaningful to Cobbs. Being a receiver at IU at all is meaningful to him.
He committed to Purdue in October of his senior year of high school. He had interest in the Hoosiers, and, as months went on and Purdue urged Cobbs to play safety for the Boilermakers, he committed to IU in February 2014.
Since beginning football in 7th grade, Cobbs always viewed himself as an offensive player.
“I always wanted the ball, always wanted to make big plays,” he said.
Cobbs had to sit out his junior year of high school when he switched schools. He said it was difficult being away from competing on Friday nights. However, in his first game back with Oak Park and River Forest High School, he caught a leaping 29-yard touchdown pass.
IU fans may be starting to recognize Cobbs for his big plays.
At 6-foot-4, Cobbs is the only of the three IU starting wideouts standing six feet or taller. He said he and Sudfeld have worked on the deep fade over the back shoulder during the offseason.
In the second quarter of last Saturday’s season opener against Southern Illinois, Cobbs was called on for that play when trailing by 11 points.
The Southern Illinois defender was covering him as tightly as he could without committing pass interference. Sudfeld launched the ball down the right sideline, and Cobbs seamlessly turned around and caught it over his back shoulder for a 41-yard gain that led to an eventual IU touchdown.
Cobbs said he has learned from his first year as a Hoosier and is using all of that knowledge to push himself. He said he knew what to bring to the table every day and what to expect.
And he said he had some big goals for himself.
“I want to be the best receiver that I can possibly be and the best receiver in the Big Ten.”
