Patrick Cobbs Patrick Cobbs ( born January 31 , 1983 ) is an American football running back who is currently a free agent . He most recently was a member of the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League . He was signed by the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2006 . He played college football at North Texas . Cobbs has also been a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins . Early years . Cobbs was a two - way starter at Tecumseh High School in Tecumseh , Oklahoma , playing both running back and safety for the football team . In his junior year , Cobbs rushed for 1 , 820 yards and 17 touchdowns . As as senior , he rushed for 2 , 354 yards and 32 touchdowns as he averaged more than eight yards per carry . His performance on offense earned him all - state honors , while he also earned first - team all - area honors as a defensive back after registering 84 tackles and four interceptions . Cobbs finished his high school career with 4 , 729 rushing yards and 61 touchdowns on offense , while adding 313 tackles and 16 interceptions on defense . College career . Playing in every game as a true freshman for North Texas in 2001 , Cobbs racked up 399 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 93 carries . A season - high 112 yards and two scores against Idaho earned him Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week honors . His 399 rushing yards were best in the Sun Belt Conference . Cobbs also had a 19 . 2 - yard average on kickoff returns , and finished third on the team with 813 all - purpose yards . Cobbs played in all 13 games as a sophomore in 2002 , rushing for 716 yards and eight touchdowns — both second best on the team behind Kevin Galbreath . He had a career game against Louisiana Monroe , rushing for a career high 128 yards and a team record four touchdowns . Cobbs also led the team in kick return ( 24 . 4 ) and punt return ( 10 . 1 ) average , and had a 50 - yard kickoff return in the New Orleans Bowl . In 2003 , Cobbs led the nation in rushing ( 152 . 7 yards per game ) and scoring ( 11 . 5 points per game ) , while also ranking in the top six in rushing touchdowns ( 19 ) and all - purpose yards ( 1 , 771 yards ) . In his first season as the starting running back , Cobbs set three North Texas single - season rushing records and finished in the top five in five different career records . He broke the school record for consecutive 100 - yard rushing games , and broke Sun Belt records for rushing yards in a season , rushing yards in a game , as well as rushing touchdowns in a game and longest rush from scrimmage . Cobbs was the only back in the nation to have four 200 - yard rushing games that season . The Mean Green were 9 - 1 when he rushed for more than 100 yards . He also set the Sun Belt single - season mark and the school record with his 1 , 680 total yards . Cobbs was the first running back at North Texas to lead the nation in rushing and scoring . In 2004 , Cobbs battled numerous injuries in the early part of the season , and after the first few games he took a medical redshirt . As a senior in 2005 , Cobbs was a first team all - Sun Belt Conference running back after leading the conference in total rushing yards with 1 , 154 . Cobbs also led the conference in all - purpose yards with an average of 135 . 1 yards per game , which is 14 yards per - game better than his closest competitor . In Sun Belt games , Cobbs led the league in rushing yards per game , averaging 127 . 9 — nearly 20 yards per - game more than his closest competitor . His 159 . 0 all - purpose yards per game against league and was the third - best total in conference history . Cobbs averaged 155 yards rushing in his last four games of the year , including a season - best 197 yards and three touchdowns against Louisiana - Lafayette . He was named the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week following his performance in the season - opening win against Middle Tennessee State . Cobbs finished his career at North Texas as the school ’ s all - time leading rusher with 4 , 050 yards — making him only the 69th player in NCAA history to eclipse the 4 , 000 - yard rushing mark . Cobbs held North Texas and Sun Belt Conference career records for rushing yards ( 4 , 050 ) , rushing touchdowns ( 36 ) , and all - purpose yards ( 5 , 255 ) until 2011 , when he was eclipsed in all of those records by Lance Dunbar . He still owns the school record for rushing attempts with 818 . He averaged 5 . 0 yards per carry over his career and was one of only two running backs ever at North Texas to have two 1 , 000 - yard rushing seasons . He also completed 2 - of - 3 passes with two touchdowns for a career pass efficiency rating of 407 . 1 . Cobbs averaged 21 . 0 yards on 35 kickoff returns during his career . Cobbs was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All - America second team after compiling a 3 . 3 cumulative GPA during his career . He earned two undergraduate degrees at North Texas — a Bachelor ’ s in applied arts and Science and a Bachelor ’ s in sociology . Professional career . New England Patriots . Cobbs was originally signed as an undrafted free agent out of North Texas by the New England Patriots on May 15 , 2006 . Battling for a roster spot , Cobbs led the Patriots in rushing during the preseason with 188 yards and three touchdown s on 38 attempts , while also caught seven passes for 115 yards and a score . He was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers for an undisclosed draft pick on September 1 . Pittsburgh Steelers . Cobbs was inactive for the team ' s first regular season game against the Miami Dolphins , as he was still learning the playbook . A day after the game took place , Cobbs was released by the team . After he cleared waivers , Cobbs refused to sign to the Steelers ' practice squad and instead was added to the practice squad of the Dolphins . Miami Dolphins . Cobbs remained on the practice squad of the Miami Dolphins until November 27 when he was promoted to the active roster . The team was in need of depth at the running back position after starter Ronnie Brown suffered a broken hand in a Thanksgiving Day contest against the Detroit Lions just a few days prior to Cobbs ' promotion . He went on to play on special teams for three games before being inactive for the final two after Brown ' s return . Cobbs remained under contract with the Dolphins in 2007 , and earned a backup job in training camp . He did not see action until game 7 ( October 21 ) , against the New England Patriots when Brown was once again injured . In that game , Cobbs temporarily replaced Jesse Chatman , who had replaced the injured Brown before suffering an injury of his own . Cobbs made the most of his playing time , running for 14 yards and a touchdown on five carries and caught one pass for nine yards . The touchdown was the first of his NFL career . Cobbs was third - string in 2008 behind Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams . When his limited opportunity to play arrived , he often shined . He displayed play - making abilities . A certainly bright game for Cobbs was against the Texans ; he grabbed 3 passes for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns . One being a 58 - yard run and the other an 80 - yard run . Cobbs finished the year with 12 rushes for 88 yards and one touchdown . He averaged 7 . 3 yds / att . He received for 19 catches for 275 yards and two touchdowns . He averaged 14 . 5 yds / rec . In Week 5 of the 2009 season , Cobbs tore a knee ligament after being brought down on a reverse wildcat run versus rival the New York Jets . Lex Hilliard is expected to take his place as the third string running back . For the 2010 season Patrick Cobbs was selected as one of four captains , along with OT Jake Long , LB Karlos Dansby , and S Yeremiah Bell . New Orleans Saints . He signed with the New Orleans Saints on August 16 , 2011 after Joique Bell was sidelined with a knee injury . Cobbs was released on September 12 , 2011 after being placed on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury suffered in the final preseason game .