There are two sample leagues in the pages of the magazine (an auction and a draft) and in both of them, Tarik Cohen and David Montgomery went in about the same area. That surprised me; in PPR formats, I see Cohen as the far more valuable of the two.
With the kind of role Cohen fills in the passing game (he caught 71 passes last year) I see him as a possible top-15 running game. Yet in our Mock Auction, both running backs went for $12 (out of a $200 cap). In the Mock Draft, both went in the fifth round (Cohen at pick 5.02 and Montgomery at 5.12).
The Bears traded Jordan Howard in the offseason, but Cohen says he doesn’t expect his role to change. Based on recent practices, he’s thinking he’ll fill the same kind of change-of-pace and third-down role. He’s not big enough to be heavily used as a featured-type guy.
Cohen last year averaged 45 receiving and 28 rushing yards, with 8 TDs in 16 games.
“I feel like I’m going to be doing the same things I was doing last year,” Cohen says. “My role is not going to change. I still have to be the receiving back, come in be the change of pace back, running the ball, be that speedy guy. I’m just prepared for anything however I get the ball.”
The Bears drafted Montgomery and signed Mike Davis, and those guys should pick up the bulk of the Howard role (though both are much better receivers). Howard in 2018 averaged 58 rushing and 9 receiving yards, with 9 TDs.
Typically in PPR leagues, third-down type backs like Cohen and James White tend to be undervalued. I think when people glance at them without carefully measuring the numbers, they don’t fully realize the value of running backs who catch 60-80 passes in that kind of format.
On a per-game basis, Cohen was the 17th-best PPR running back last year. That’s when measuring him against running backs who played at least half the season.
| RUNNING BACKS (per-game production) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | St | No | Rec | Run | Tot | TD | PPR |
| Todd Gurley, LAR | 14 | 4.2 | 41 | 89 | 131 | 1.50 | 26.7 |
| Saquon Barkley, NYG | 16 | 5.7 | 45 | 82 | 127 | .94 | 24.1 |
| Christian McCaffrey, Car. | 16 | 6.7 | 54 | 69 | 123 | .81 | 24.1 |
| Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 15 | 5.4 | 47 | 59 | 106 | 1.20 | 23.6 |
| Melvin Gordon, LAC | 12 | 4.2 | 41 | 74 | 115 | 1.17 | 23.0 |
| Ezekiel Elliott, Dall. | 15 | 5.1 | 38 | 96 | 133 | .60 | 22.1 |
| James Conner, Pitt. | 13 | 4.2 | 38 | 75 | 113 | 1.00 | 21.8 |
| Kareem Hunt, K.C. | 11 | 2.4 | 34 | 75 | 109 | 1.27 | 20.9 |
| Aaron Jones, G.B. | 8 | 2.8 | 21 | 68 | 88 | 1.00 | 17.6 |
| Joe Mixon, Cin. | 14 | 3.1 | 21 | 83 | 105 | .64 | 17.4 |
| James White (3rd), N.E. | 16 | 5.4 | 47 | 27 | 74 | .75 | 17.3 |
| Lindsay (full time), Den. | 9 | 2.3 | 14 | 77 | 91 | .89 | 16.8 |
| Nick Chubb, Cle. | 10 | 2.0 | 15 | 82 | 97 | .80 | 16.5 |
| Marlon Mack, Ind. | 11 | 1.5 | 9 | 79 | 89 | .91 | 16.1 |
| David Johnson, Ariz. | 16 | 3.1 | 28 | 59 | 87 | .63 | 15.7 |
| Leonard Fournette, Jac. | 8 | 2.8 | 23 | 55 | 78 | .75 | 15.1 |
| Tarik Cohen, Chi. | 16 | 4.4 | 45 | 28 | 73 | .50 | 15.0 |
| Kerryon Johnson, Det. | 9 | 3.2 | 21 | 69 | 91 | .44 | 15.0 |
| Lindsay (all G), Den. | 15 | 2.3 | 16 | 69 | 85 | .67 | 14.9 |
| Chris Carson, Sea. | 14 | 1.4 | 12 | 82 | 94 | .64 | 14.7 |
| Dalvin Cook, Min. | 11 | 3.6 | 28 | 56 | 84 | .36 | 14.2 |
| Kenyan Drake, Mia. | 16 | 3.3 | 30 | 33 | 63 | .56 | 13.0 |
| Derrick Henry, Ten. | 16 | .9 | 6 | 66 | 72 | .75 | 12.7 |
| Tevin Coleman, Atl. | 14 | 2.1 | 17 | 55 | 72 | .57 | 12.7 |
| Lamar Miller, Hou. | 14 | 1.8 | 12 | 70 | 81 | .43 | 12.5 |
| Adrian Peterson, Was. | 16 | 1.3 | 13 | 65 | 78 | .50 | 12.1 |
| Mark Ingram, N.O. | 12 | 1.8 | 14 | 54 | 68 | .58 | 12.0 |
| Austin Ekeler, LAC | 11 | 2.5 | 30 | 39 | 68 | .45 | 12.0 |
| Matt Breida, S.F. | 14 | 1.9 | 19 | 58 | 77 | .36 | 11.8 |
| Alex Collins, Balt. | 10 | 1.5 | 11 | 41 | 52 | .80 | 11.5 |
| Jordan Howard, Chi. | 16 | 1.3 | 9 | 58 | 68 | .56 | 11.4 |
| Doug Martin, Oak. | 10 | 1.4 | 11 | 62 | 74 | .40 | 11.2 |
| Wendell Smallwood, Phil. | 11 | 2.5 | 21 | 33 | 54 | .45 | 10.9 |
| Sony Michel, N.E. | 13 | .5 | 4 | 72 | 75 | .46 | 10.9 |
| Isaiah Crowell, NYJ | 13 | 1.6 | 12 | 53 | 64 | .46 | 10.8 |
| Chris Thompson (3rd), Was. | 9 | 4.6 | 30 | 20 | 50 | .11 | 10.2 |
| Dion Lewis, Ten. | 16 | 3.7 | 25 | 32 | 57 | .13 | 10.2 |
| Nyheim Hines (3rd), Ind. | 16 | 3.9 | 27 | 20 | 46 | .25 | 10.1 |
| Jalen Richard (3rd), Oak. | 16 | 4.3 | 38 | 16 | 54 | .06 | 10.0 |
| Peyton Barber, T.B. | 16 | 1.3 | 6 | 54 | 60 | .38 | 9.5 |
| LeSean McCoy, Buff. | 14 | 2.4 | 17 | 37 | 54 | .21 | 9.1 |
| Jamaal Williams, G.B. | 8 | 2.1 | 17 | 40 | 57 | .13 | 8.8 |
| Josh Adams, Phil. | 9 | .8 | 6 | 52 | 58 | .33 | 8.8 |
| Theo Riddick (3rd), Det. | 14 | 4.4 | 27 | 12 | 40 | .00 | 8.3 |
| Duke Johnson (3rd), Cle. | 16 | 2.9 | 27 | 13 | 39 | .19 | 8.3 |
| Ito Smith, Atl. | 12 | 2.2 | 12 | 26 | 38 | .33 | 8.0 |
| Royce Freeman, Den. | 14 | 1.0 | 5 | 37 | 42 | .36 | 7.4 |
| Corey Clement, Phil. | 11 | 2.0 | 17 | 24 | 41 | .18 | 7.4 |
| Frank Gore, Mia. | 14 | .9 | 9 | 52 | 60 | .07 | 7.3 |
| Mike Davis, Sea. | 13 | 2.0 | 13 | 27 | 40 | .15 | 7.0 |
| LeGarrette Blount, Det. | 16 | .6 | 4 | 26 | 30 | .31 | 5.5 |
| Giovani Bernard (3rd), Cin. | 10 | 2.6 | 17 | 8 | 25 | .00 | 5.1 |
—Ian Allan