Bears RB Cohen proving he's a force to be reckoned with
When Matt Nagy accepted the Bears' head-coaching job, he knew of Tarik Cohen, but he didn't know all about the 5-foot-6 running back, receiver and returner.
The 2017 fourth-round draft pick out of North Carolina A&T did it all in Sunday's third straight victory. He caught 7 passes for a game-best 121 yards (17.3-yard average) including a 9-yard TD, he rushed 13 times for 53 yards (4.1-yard average) and he returned 3 punts for 14 yards, just a 4.7-yard average, but he's still fifth in the NFL with a 12.8-yard average.
"I knew about him, just from coming out of college, but I didn't know everything about him," Nagy said. "First of all, I didn't know how great of a route runner he was, (and) I didn't know how well he was going to be able to handle this playbook.
"He's really exceptional at being able to digest everything we give him, and he has such natural hands. He has big hands for a little guy, really big hands, so it makes it a little easier for him to catch. And then his personality is second to none. He truly loves to play the game of football. So you mix all that together, and it's an easy target for you to try to throw to."
On Sunday, Cohen got two more carries than the Bears' normal RB1, Jordan Howard, and he's on pace for 108 rushing attempts, slightly up from last year's 87. With 14 receptions, he's on about the same pace as last year when he caught 53 balls, but this year he's averaging 12.1 yards per catch, nearly double last year's 6.7-yard average.
As much as Nagy values Cohen's versatility in his offense, he doesn't envision the explosive 181-pounder splitting the ball-carrying duties with Howard, the 224-pound workhorse.
"I think it's probably more (determined) by game," Nagy said. "When you have a guy like Jordan, (he) obviously is more of a run-between-the-tackles guy, and he's really good at it. But you can move him out and you can see he can catch the ball and do some good things in space. And then, when you have (No.) 29, Tarik, he can come in and do what he did (Sunday). It makes it hard for the defense."
Howard has yet to get rolling this year, averaging just 3.2 yards on 64 carries, while Cohen's picking up an average of 5.1 yards per carry. Nagy has no concerns that Cohen will wear down over the course of a 16-game season - or be allowed to.
"We went through that with Tyreek Hill (in Kansas City), and I have a pretty good balance on how to handle that," Nagy said of the previous two years, when he was with the Chiefs as offensive coordinator and the 5-foot-10, 185-pound Hill was a dual-threat wide receiver.
While the speedy Hill had 1,183 receiving yards last year, he's carried the ball just 45 times since coming into the league in 2016 as a fifth-round draft pick.
"They're different players," Nagy said. "Tyreek is exclusively a wide receiver. There were times, and there are times, when coach (Andy) Reid will put him in the backfield and run the ball. The one difference with Cohen, is that he can do both. He is a threat to run the ball between the tackles when he's in the backfield. But if you move him out and put him in the slot at wide receiver, he's shown to do that as well.
"That's an advantage for us as playcallers, (and) as coaches. That can stress the defense because they either have to put a linebacker in the box that is going to stop the run but struggle vs. the pass, or they put a nickel (corner) out there, and now you can look to run the ball."
Either way, Cohen is proving to be a matchup nightmare for defenses.
• Bob LeGere is a senior writer at Pro Football Weekly. Follow Bob's Bears reports on Twitter @BobLeGere or @PFWeekly.