Tarik Cohen impressive for Chicago Bears in second preseason game

 Chicago Bears rookie running back Tarik Cohen got the start in the second preseason game. He showed up in a big way, impressing from the first snap.

With starter Jordan Howard dealing with an eye issue, the Chicago Bears turned to rookie running back Tarik Cohen to start their second preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night.

Cohen was a fourth-round selection by the Bears in the 2017 NFL Draft. He was absolutely dominant in college, showing elite quickness and elusive ability in the open field. However, coming from North Carolina A&T, Cohen will be facing a huge jump in competition coming to the NFL level.

Well, so far so good. Building off of an impressive performance last week, Cohen looked like a legitimate NFL running back on Saturday night. The Bears rookie running back carried the ball 11 times on the night for 77 yards. He showed fantastic quickness and burst in his cuts and undoubtedly has the speed to reach the corner with consistency.

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I like Cohen’s ability to find the holes that his offensive line creates for him. He is a small guy, so he is obviously going to bounce it outside a lot, but Cohen finds open holes with consistency.

Speed and quickness are obviously Cohen’s game, but he is also a tough back who is not afraid to mix it up on the inside. Cohen is far too small to ever take on a full load of carries as an inside rusher, but he will step up and compete when he is in the game. He is obviously not an extremely powerful runner, but Cohen showed the ability to run out of arm tackles many times on Saturday night.

This was Cohen’s first run of the night, the first offensive play for the Bears in the game.

Look how he bounces it outside, hits the hole hard and just explodes. He made a defender miss with a quick move and then took on a big hit and spun right off of it for a big gain. This was an impressive run, but it was not his only one of the night. Here is another:

You simply cannot go after Cohen with only arm tackles. He has shown the ability to run right out of them.

Cohen is still an undersized back coming from a small school. However, he was incredibly impressive on Saturday night. Jordan Howard will undoubtedly be the lead back for the Chicago Bears in 2017, but they have really seemed to find something in Cohen.

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He is the perfect change of pace back to compliment Howard and I expect him to have an impressive rookie season.