You chuckle at it? Yes, in the first game of the season, defenses don't have tape yet of what a particular offense is going to do. Especially one with a new QB and a rookie RB like Cohen. I imagine Tampa will put the tape on and make sure Cohen doesn't get lost when he's on the field.
Sproles was typically on offenses with multiple weapons that needed to be accounted for. Who else do defenses need to worry about when they play the Bears?
I'm not saying he didn't look good. He did. But, the big plays may be harder to come by when more defenders pay attention to where he's at on the field.
Yes. I think it's a lazy argument, no offense. As if these types of role players are only good for one game. If that were the case Danny Woodhead would not have had any success in SD... because after Allen went down and Gates looked awful/beat up... who else did defenses need to worry about when they played the Chargers last year?
I think the "teams have tape" is more applicable to a player's second season. Because no one knows what works vs a particular player, they can only guess. Year 2 teams have up to 16 games of tape and can study all off season how teams use a particular player.
If what you said is true, no rookie would ever have a great season because teams would have tape after game 1 and would stop them easier.
Do teams not plan against Derrick Henry? How come he does so well when he gets in? Cohen may not be on the same level as Henry, but he is as important part of the Chicago Bear offense as Henry is in TEN at the very least.
You act as if Atlanta was caught with their pants down, and now that teams see this no team will be caught off guard. Sure, fair point, however does Atlanta have the ability to change their defensive play calling during the game? How come they didn't? My point is, they likely did and Chicago
still was able to get him the ball.
Big plays may not be a weekly thing... I don't think anyone is saying he's going to score a 45 yard TD every week. But the fact that Chicago looks to include him as an importnat part of their passing game, and he gets return yards... it all means Chicago wants his hands on the ball as often as they can.
As I said above... 6 catches for 45 yards and 4 returns for 60yds is worth 14.5 points in my league. That's RB2 territory in my league, and IMO that seems to be his floor. (5-6 catches a game)
Also, FWIW, I don't view the bears as picking in the top 10 next year... they are much better than you may think. Not going to make the playoffs, and they will likely lose more than they win, but they aren't the New York Jets or Indianapolis Colts
(on the others)
