Chicago Bears: 5 Players who must put up or shut up in Week 1

The next Chicago Bears player who needs to prove himself is Tarik Cohen

When it comes to the Chicago Bears, the team clearly regressed in 2019. The question is, which team is going to show up in 2020? Will it be the 2018 version that took the NFL by storm on defense and did just enough on offense? Will it be the 2019 version that was still strong on defense, but could do little right on offense? As easy as it is to blame just Mitch Trubisky for the offensive failures, many players regressed last season.

One of those players was Tarik Cohen. Cohen seemed to run from sideline to sideline more than he did endzone to endzone. In 2018, Cohen finished with three rushing touchdowns and five receiving touchdowns. His wheel route was lethal and the separation he found was absolutely fantastic. That did not happen in 2019 though.

Cohen spoke about how he lost stamina throughout the year last year, but I think it went way beyond that. Honestly, it seems like Cohen struggled with focus and maturity last year. He was not the only one. After only one drop in 2018, Cohen had nine in 2019. His receiving yards dropped from 725 yards to 456 despite more targets and receptions. He only scored three touchdowns total on the season.

Cohen needs to return to his 2018 form. This is a contract year for him, and if he wants to get a bigger payday he needs to prove he is more than just a gadget player and punt returner.