5 reasons why Jordan Howard will decline in 2018

Tarik Cohen

Who would take those snaps? Tarik Cohen of course. Now, this not to say that Howard would lose those goal line and short yardage touches. Cohen is not going to pound between the tackles.

Heck, it is arguable that if Howard can at least be a decent that Cohen will be catching more passes than rushes of the football. However, if you saw in the previous point, pass catching is a valuable aspect of a running back for Matt Nagy.

Matt Nagy wants the defense to be thinking pass when he runs the football. This would make life easier for a smaller back like Cohen. They would choose to run him against plus men in the box situations, where he could potentially thrive with more carries.

Nagy is going to get these situations so frequently because even if Cohen sees more attempts between the tackles, his threat as a pass catcher is always going to be the priority. If the Bears throw him on the field with Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Anthony Miller, and Trey Burton are teams really going to load up the box to stop Cohen? Even adding Adam Shaheen and Dion Sims into the scenario, it will be tough to load up the box. Shaheen and Burton can shift to the slot or out wide to clear defenders.

There is a chance that this a futuristic offensive grouping that Nagy is looking for. It would really limit the availability of Howard to a role player.