Reports suggest the Bears might be thinking about trading away Jordan Howard. They have interest in Jarvis Landry. But would Chicago really be willing to deal its only proven tailback?
Howard isn’t a good pass catcher, and maybe that concerns them. He drops a lot of balls – including one that would have won the Atlanta game last year. But he’s a big, proven runner, and that would be hard to replace.
Chicago also drafted Tarik Cohen last year, and he’s a dynamic big-play back. He had a big run in overtime to help them beat Pittsburgh last year and scored touchdowns four different ways – run, receiver, pass and punt returner. He’s an excellent change-of-pace option.
But there are limits on how much Cohen can be used. He’s definitely best suited to be a change-of-pace back. He weighs only 179 pounds, and he’s also still learning the game. Way too often last year, he free-lanced on plays, trying to bounce outside for big gains rather than just taking what was there.
While Cohen contributed some splash plays, he also lost yards on over a quarter of his carries. In the last 10 years, no other running back in the league has had at least 50 carries in a season and lost yards on that many plays. He’s got to get that fixed. It’s the kind of thing that drives a lot of coaching staffs crazy. We saw that last year, when it contributed to Cohen and Marlon Mack not playing as much as you would have expected in the second half of the season.
In the last 10 years, 11 backs have lost yards on at least 20 percent of their carries. Most of those guys quickly cycled out of the league. The one big exception would be C.J. Spiller; two years after he struggled as a rookie, he ran for 1,244 yards, averaging 6 yards per carry. (Chester Taylor also had a 1,200-yard season, but it came before the down year at the end of his career.)
| RUNNING BACKS LOSING YARDS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Att | Lost | Pct |
| 2017 | Tarik Cohen, Chi. | 87 | 23 | 26.4% |
| 2017 | Mike Davis, Sea. | 68 | 16 | 23.5% |
| 2014 | Charles Sims, T.B. | 66 | 15 | 22.7% |
| 2010 | Chester Taylor, Chi. | 112 | 24 | 21.4% |
| 2015 | Tre Mason, St.L. | 75 | 16 | 21.3% |
| 2012 | Ryan Williams, Ariz. | 58 | 12 | 20.7% |
| 2011 | Deji Karim, Jac. | 63 | 13 | 20.6% |
| 2017 | Elijah McGuire, NYJ | 88 | 18 | 20.5% |
| 2017 | Marlon Mack, Ind. | 93 | 19 | 20.4% |
| 2010 | C.J. Spiller, Buff. | 74 | 15 | 20.3% |
| 2013 | Bryce Brown, Phil. | 75 | 15 | 20.0% |
—Ian Allan