Chicago Bears: Tarik Cohen needs to be more involved

The Chicago Bears offense has struggled generating explosive plays through the first two games of the season, and Tarik Cohen’s lack of involvement is partially to blame.

The Chicago Bears kept running back Tarik Cohen under wraps during the 2018 NFL preseason. Cohen was barely on the field at all, as coach Matt Nagy didn’t want to give away any plays or formations that Cohen might be a part of.

The 2018 season was supposed to be a breakout year for the second-year player. However, through the first two weeks of the season, Cohen hasn’t really made a dent.

Cohen played 28 snaps versus Green Bay and 21 versus Seattle. A sore ankle was partly to blame for a lower snap count in Week 2, but even when he was out there, Cohen was not a big part of the offense. On the season, Cohen has carried the ball nine times for 33 yards, and has an additional 33 yards on four receptions (on five targets).

While Cohen has been used as a decoy on jet sweeps, zone-reads, and other plays, he probably needs more than the six touches he’s been averaging per game thus far. The Bears have struggled with generating many big-plays offensively, instead trying to stretch the field horizontally and not vertically.

The comparisons to Tyreek Hill that some were making in the offseason were overblown. However, it’s not too much to ask to get the ball in Cohen’s hands more.

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Cohen is a playmaker. Yes, he’ll make some poor decisions sometimes and lose yards (or not generate as many yards as he might have if he followed the design of the play). However, when the Bears offense struggles midway through the game, Cohen has the ability to make something out of nothing.

An increased role for Cohen should not take anything away from Jordan Howard. Howard still needs to carry the ball 20-25 times per game, as he is still the Bears most reliable offensive player at the moment. But using Cohen more as a wide receiver should be able to get him more touches while maintaining Howard’s bell-cow workload.

Cohen is not built for a role in which he touches the ball 15 or more times. However, if Cohen is able to get 10-12 touches per game, the Bears offense might see an uptick in more explosive plays, which is something that has been lacking through the first two games.