Chicago Bears: Top 10 draft picks under Ryan Pace

5. Running back Tarik Cohen

Talk about finding a gem — my goodness.

Tarik Cohen was a very small kid coming out of a small school, and many Bears fans wondered what Pace was doing drafting him in the fourth round in 2017. Not many people knew a lot about Cohen, but that changed in a hurry.

Whether it was his backflip catches made famous on social media, or his immediate impact in training camp, fans’ minds were quickly spun to think very highly of Cohen — and for good reason. A decade ago, fans got used to seeing an electric player like Devin Hester in the open field and haven’t seen anyone like him since.

While Cohen is a different player than Hester, he presents a lot of the same problems to defenses. Cohen is one of the fastest players in all of football when he gets going. He’s shifty. His footwork is fantastic.

Here’s the kicker: At 5-foot-6, 180 pounds, he’s unbelievably hard to bring down.

The preseason action above did exactly what preseason football does every year: It gets us excited. But, this particular play didn’t seem to be a fluke. It didn’t look like something that just happened out of no where — and Cohen would go on to prove it in the regular season.

Cohen is going to be a special player for a very long time, and Pace knew exactly what he was doing drafting him. Now, in an offense like Nagy’s, it’s going to be hilarious to watch defenses try and stop him. I am thrilled to know Cohen has a capable play-caller and a coach who believes in his abilities enough to not let a defense dictate his being on the field.

Cough, John Fox, cough.