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- Sep 28, 2014
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Cian Fahey has a patreon page where he posts a handful of really good breakdowns per month...
https://www.patreon.com/Cianaf/overview
He also has his own website where he gives in depth breakdowns on every QB each season as well as compiles his own advanced statistics for each QB based on film study of every single snap...
http://presnapreads.com
Table Set for Tarik Cohen to Become One of the NFL's Best Running Backs - Page 1
Jordan Howard was one of the best running backs in the NFL just two seasons ago. It was 2016. He was a rookie. He ran for 1,313 yards and six touchdowns on 252 carries while pitching in with 298 receiving yards also. At that point of his career, the only real concern about Howard was his inability to catch the ball. He was explosive, consistent, powerful and didn't fumble the ball. He was even comfortable running routes out of the backfield. He just couldn't catch the ball consistently.
Of course, Howard was also playing in a John Fox offense. If you're not familiar with what that means it's an extremely conservative offense that allows the running back to primarily run when his quarterback is under center.
It didn't matter for the Bears that Howard hadn't proven himself running from shotgun. He was rarely asked to.
That offense allowed Howard to average 5.2 yards per attempt. During his second season he played in that offense again but only averaged 4.1 yards per attempt, though he did score nine touchdowns. Howard scored nine touchdowns last season too, his first with Matt Nagy as the head coach. But his yards per carry dropped to 3.7 while Tarik Cohen became the best back in the Bears locker room.
In just two years, Howard went from being the focal point of the Bears offense to being traded away for nothing. He's now a Philadelphia Eagle, projected into the LeGarrette Blount role of a crowded backfield.
Although it's a confluence of events, it's still startling how quickly things can change in the NFL. Especially when you're dealing with a player whose production is so situation dependent.
Howard washing out of Nagy's offense so quickly should give us pause on Cohen's rise in Chicago, but the two backs aren't the same. Not only is Cohen a completely different style of back to Howard and a perfect fit in Nagy's spread-out offense, his versatility also makes him a perfect fit for what the NFL wants from its running backs in this era of football.
Prior to being drafted, Howard weighed in at 6'0" and 224 lbs. He's a big, bruising back in the mold of a Willis McGahee, Jamal Lewis or Shaun Alexander. Howard was anatomically designed to power his way through defenders between the tackles. Cohen measured in at 5'6" and 181 lbs when he was drafted.
He's basically a wide receiver. A short wide receiver. And he plays that way too. Cohen never fights for extra yardage against contact and he's always happy to step out of bounds prematurely to protect himself. That's not a negative. He's preserving himself to maximize his touches over the course of a full season.
If he manages to play a full season in 2019, Cohen could establish himself as one of the best backs in the league.
Cohen carried the ball 99 times last season. He averaged 4.5 yards per attempt. 125-150 attempts over a 16-game season is about what Cohen should carry. His size means it's probably not a good idea to give him the ball 300 times and ask him to absorb constant hits from much bigger defenders. But he also is effective enough and smart enough to protect himself in a bigger role than he had last season.
In Nagy's offense, the defense is generally forced into their nickel packages. That takes a defensive lineman or linebacker off the field, which can also be described as a player who is significantly bigger than Cohen. That allows him to run against more defensive backs but it also makes it easier for him to find space between the tackles.
The above gif was his longest run of the season against the Los Angeles Rams on a Second-and-9. He gains 32 yards without ever being touched.
Howard's departure obviously clears up snaps for Cohen to get more touches as a runner. But Mike Davis is a perfect fit in Nagy's offense as a runner so he should soak up the majority of Howard's vacated touches. The franchise also added third-round pick David Montgomery to the depth chart and Taquan Mizzell proved to be capable when he played last season too.
Only carrying the ball 99 times meant that Cohen's bigger impact was felt in the passing game. He caught 71 passes for 725 yards and five touchdowns during the regular season. Allen Robinson was the team's most effective receiver but Cohen was next in-line. His numbers were curtailed by Mitchell Trubisky's inaccuracy and his absence. Chase Daniel kept the season on track for the playoffs but wasn't an efficient passer.
The inconsistent quarterback play meant that Cohen's production had peaks and valleys. He had three games with 90 or more receiving yards and five games with 69 or more receiving yards. But he had seven games with 20 or fewer receiving yards.
Cohen is constantly open and he didn't have major drop issues. The Bears need to get him the ball more often in positions to be effective next season.
The Bears throw a lot of screens and Cohen is a prominent part of that. His straight-line speed to take advantage of open space was highlighted during his longest play of the season against the New York Jets. That was a 70-yard screen touchdown that was the result of Nagy catching the defense out on a blitz with the perfect play call.
While that play showcased his speed, that was essentially all it did. He only had to outrun the cornerback recovering from the opposite side of the field.
In the above gif, Cohen's second-longest screen gain of the season can be seen. It's a 30-yard play from the Week 4 matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nagy uses misdirection with Trubisky pump faking to the opposite side of the field before his linemen release left. That helps to create the initial space for Cohen to catch the ball in. A catch that is made more difficult than it needed to be by Trubisky slightly overthrowing the ball.
Cohen makes the one-handed catch look routine before turning upfield. He doesn't hesitate as his initial blocker picks up his defender. Kevin White on the outside has allowed his defender to come uncovered though, meaning that there is a defensive back closing on Cohen as soon as he crosses the line of scrimmage.
The running back drifts before accelerating upfield sharply to escape the defender's attention. From there he shows off vision to work back to the outside, where White redeems himself with an outstanding block that springs Cohen free down the sideline.
45 of Cohen's 55 receptions with Trubisky were passes caught within five yards of the line of scrimmage. Like most backs in the league, Cohen's primary role was as a checkdown/screen option rather than a route runner to the intermediate or deep level of the field.
He was hugely valuable on this routes because of his ability to create yards after the catch from any starting point. On this play Trubisky motions Cohen from the left side to the right in the backfield. This is a key move because it puts Cohen behind the tight end releasing up the seam and it tips the quarterback off to the blitz.
With the quarterback knowing that the blitz is coming, he can get the ball out to Cohen in space. With Cohen releasing behind the tight end, the running back knows he is going to have space because the safety in man coverage is picked off en route. Once Cohen catches the ball, the defender stops his feet because he's concerned with Cohen slipping past him if he dives in aggressively.
It doesn't matter that the defender tries to hold his position, Cohen can easily accelerate away from him.
Blitzing Trubisky is very difficult because of how dangerous Cohen is on quick throws out of the backfield. When he's escaping defensive backs this easily, linebackers and defensive ends have no shot of running with him past the line of scrimmage. This type of throw should be easily contained. It should result in a four or five yard gain. Instead, Cohen's elusiveness turns it into a touchdown. A simple touchdown for the quarterback.
That play came on First-and-10 at the end of the second quarter. It was only a good throw because it was to Cohen. Throwing that ball to your average running back who gets tackled short of the first down line makes this a pointless play when you're already in field goal range.
Converting first downs with short throws is Cohen's specialty.
From that same game, early in the third quarter, the Packers again tried to blitz Trubisky. This time Cohen lined up as the interior slot receiver as part of a three receiver set on the wide side of the field. The Bears are hoping to get Cohen aligned on a linebacker to win underneath on Second-and-10. Instead, the Packers blitz that linebacker so he's working against a safety.
https://www.patreon.com/Cianaf/overview
He also has his own website where he gives in depth breakdowns on every QB each season as well as compiles his own advanced statistics for each QB based on film study of every single snap...
http://presnapreads.com
Table Set for Tarik Cohen to Become One of the NFL's Best Running Backs - Page 1
Jordan Howard was one of the best running backs in the NFL just two seasons ago. It was 2016. He was a rookie. He ran for 1,313 yards and six touchdowns on 252 carries while pitching in with 298 receiving yards also. At that point of his career, the only real concern about Howard was his inability to catch the ball. He was explosive, consistent, powerful and didn't fumble the ball. He was even comfortable running routes out of the backfield. He just couldn't catch the ball consistently.
Of course, Howard was also playing in a John Fox offense. If you're not familiar with what that means it's an extremely conservative offense that allows the running back to primarily run when his quarterback is under center.
It didn't matter for the Bears that Howard hadn't proven himself running from shotgun. He was rarely asked to.
That offense allowed Howard to average 5.2 yards per attempt. During his second season he played in that offense again but only averaged 4.1 yards per attempt, though he did score nine touchdowns. Howard scored nine touchdowns last season too, his first with Matt Nagy as the head coach. But his yards per carry dropped to 3.7 while Tarik Cohen became the best back in the Bears locker room.
In just two years, Howard went from being the focal point of the Bears offense to being traded away for nothing. He's now a Philadelphia Eagle, projected into the LeGarrette Blount role of a crowded backfield.
Although it's a confluence of events, it's still startling how quickly things can change in the NFL. Especially when you're dealing with a player whose production is so situation dependent.
Howard washing out of Nagy's offense so quickly should give us pause on Cohen's rise in Chicago, but the two backs aren't the same. Not only is Cohen a completely different style of back to Howard and a perfect fit in Nagy's spread-out offense, his versatility also makes him a perfect fit for what the NFL wants from its running backs in this era of football.
Prior to being drafted, Howard weighed in at 6'0" and 224 lbs. He's a big, bruising back in the mold of a Willis McGahee, Jamal Lewis or Shaun Alexander. Howard was anatomically designed to power his way through defenders between the tackles. Cohen measured in at 5'6" and 181 lbs when he was drafted.
He's basically a wide receiver. A short wide receiver. And he plays that way too. Cohen never fights for extra yardage against contact and he's always happy to step out of bounds prematurely to protect himself. That's not a negative. He's preserving himself to maximize his touches over the course of a full season.
If he manages to play a full season in 2019, Cohen could establish himself as one of the best backs in the league.
Cohen carried the ball 99 times last season. He averaged 4.5 yards per attempt. 125-150 attempts over a 16-game season is about what Cohen should carry. His size means it's probably not a good idea to give him the ball 300 times and ask him to absorb constant hits from much bigger defenders. But he also is effective enough and smart enough to protect himself in a bigger role than he had last season.
In Nagy's offense, the defense is generally forced into their nickel packages. That takes a defensive lineman or linebacker off the field, which can also be described as a player who is significantly bigger than Cohen. That allows him to run against more defensive backs but it also makes it easier for him to find space between the tackles.
The above gif was his longest run of the season against the Los Angeles Rams on a Second-and-9. He gains 32 yards without ever being touched.
Howard's departure obviously clears up snaps for Cohen to get more touches as a runner. But Mike Davis is a perfect fit in Nagy's offense as a runner so he should soak up the majority of Howard's vacated touches. The franchise also added third-round pick David Montgomery to the depth chart and Taquan Mizzell proved to be capable when he played last season too.
Only carrying the ball 99 times meant that Cohen's bigger impact was felt in the passing game. He caught 71 passes for 725 yards and five touchdowns during the regular season. Allen Robinson was the team's most effective receiver but Cohen was next in-line. His numbers were curtailed by Mitchell Trubisky's inaccuracy and his absence. Chase Daniel kept the season on track for the playoffs but wasn't an efficient passer.
The inconsistent quarterback play meant that Cohen's production had peaks and valleys. He had three games with 90 or more receiving yards and five games with 69 or more receiving yards. But he had seven games with 20 or fewer receiving yards.
Cohen is constantly open and he didn't have major drop issues. The Bears need to get him the ball more often in positions to be effective next season.
The Bears throw a lot of screens and Cohen is a prominent part of that. His straight-line speed to take advantage of open space was highlighted during his longest play of the season against the New York Jets. That was a 70-yard screen touchdown that was the result of Nagy catching the defense out on a blitz with the perfect play call.
While that play showcased his speed, that was essentially all it did. He only had to outrun the cornerback recovering from the opposite side of the field.
In the above gif, Cohen's second-longest screen gain of the season can be seen. It's a 30-yard play from the Week 4 matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nagy uses misdirection with Trubisky pump faking to the opposite side of the field before his linemen release left. That helps to create the initial space for Cohen to catch the ball in. A catch that is made more difficult than it needed to be by Trubisky slightly overthrowing the ball.
Cohen makes the one-handed catch look routine before turning upfield. He doesn't hesitate as his initial blocker picks up his defender. Kevin White on the outside has allowed his defender to come uncovered though, meaning that there is a defensive back closing on Cohen as soon as he crosses the line of scrimmage.
The running back drifts before accelerating upfield sharply to escape the defender's attention. From there he shows off vision to work back to the outside, where White redeems himself with an outstanding block that springs Cohen free down the sideline.
45 of Cohen's 55 receptions with Trubisky were passes caught within five yards of the line of scrimmage. Like most backs in the league, Cohen's primary role was as a checkdown/screen option rather than a route runner to the intermediate or deep level of the field.
He was hugely valuable on this routes because of his ability to create yards after the catch from any starting point. On this play Trubisky motions Cohen from the left side to the right in the backfield. This is a key move because it puts Cohen behind the tight end releasing up the seam and it tips the quarterback off to the blitz.
With the quarterback knowing that the blitz is coming, he can get the ball out to Cohen in space. With Cohen releasing behind the tight end, the running back knows he is going to have space because the safety in man coverage is picked off en route. Once Cohen catches the ball, the defender stops his feet because he's concerned with Cohen slipping past him if he dives in aggressively.
It doesn't matter that the defender tries to hold his position, Cohen can easily accelerate away from him.
Blitzing Trubisky is very difficult because of how dangerous Cohen is on quick throws out of the backfield. When he's escaping defensive backs this easily, linebackers and defensive ends have no shot of running with him past the line of scrimmage. This type of throw should be easily contained. It should result in a four or five yard gain. Instead, Cohen's elusiveness turns it into a touchdown. A simple touchdown for the quarterback.
That play came on First-and-10 at the end of the second quarter. It was only a good throw because it was to Cohen. Throwing that ball to your average running back who gets tackled short of the first down line makes this a pointless play when you're already in field goal range.
Converting first downs with short throws is Cohen's specialty.
From that same game, early in the third quarter, the Packers again tried to blitz Trubisky. This time Cohen lined up as the interior slot receiver as part of a three receiver set on the wide side of the field. The Bears are hoping to get Cohen aligned on a linebacker to win underneath on Second-and-10. Instead, the Packers blitz that linebacker so he's working against a safety.
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