Cohen vs. Howard

[ColdZealDonkeyStrike]

I don't remember anyone saying before the season "Don't buy Howard, Chicago's OL will get injured any minute now."

It's not that "his line might get hurt", it is that being on a bad offense and not being active in the receiving game made his situation more perilous than other top backs. You can be an RB1 on a bad offense if you catch passes. You can be a 2 down player and an RB1 if you are on a good offense. For both to happen, you need good line + no other options with a splash of facing mostly bad run defenses. It happened last year, but it was pretty low odds that everything would line up again.
To return on his startup cost, he needed his line to stay healthy, and he needed to still be the only option in his backfield. Both of those have changed, and only one of those is changing back anytime soon.

And if that's the case, why would I then buy a 5'6 RB for the same price, who can't run between the tackles?

Not to beat a dead horse, but, because he catches passes.

[skip]

Not to beat a dead horse, but, because he catches passes.

I'm never investing in a running back who only catches passes like Cohen. Useless as a runner. He's a gimmick player with limited long term value. Redraft asset only.

And it is extremely short sighted to say Howard doesn't. 29 last season in 14 games as a rookie.

[ColdZealDonkeyStrike]

Not to beat a dead horse, but, because he catches passes.

I'm never investing in a running back who only catches passes like Cohen. Useless as a runner. He's a gimmick player with limited long term value. Redraft asset only.

And it is extremely short sighted to say Howard doesn't. 29 last season in 14 games as a rookie.

Bolded is fair. My position has been sell Cohen, but don't buy Howard.

Howard was the only option last year, and he has several drops, including a game clincher week 1. I think it is fair to expect that he won't be very involved in the passing game with Cohen there going forward.

[ColdZealDonkeyStrike]

Although it probably isn't fair to say that Cohen is useless as a runner. He is better than say, Theo Riddick, but probably won't ever be even a 15 carry guy.

[jonf86]

Not to beat a dead horse, but, because he catches passes.

I'm never investing in a running back who only catches passes like Cohen. Useless as a runner. He's a gimmick player with limited long term value. Redraft asset only.

And it is extremely short sighted to say Howard doesn't. 29 last season in 14 games as a rookie.

Bolded is fair. My position has been sell Cohen, but don't buy Howard.

Howard was the only option last year, and he has several drops, including a game clincher week 1. I think it is fair to expect that he won't be very involved in the passing game with Cohen there going forward.

Out of curiosity, what would you expect to get selling Cohen at the moment?

[SkillsPino]

I picked up Cohen on the WW after losing DJ for the season. I didn't really want him, but had no other options. I think the Bears is just a situation to avoid all season long. But if we are comparing Howard to Cohen, give me Cohen. I see the Bears being the team we saw last week, playing from behind all game and being forced to pass. I'm not sure what Trubisky's strengths are, but when he comes in I bet he dumps a lot of passes to Cohen as well.

My prediction on Cohen is similar numbers to Danny Woodhead from 2013. Ryan Mathews was over 1000 yards, but Woodhead was a great RB3/Flex play most of the season. I'm hoping for RB2, but I'm not holding my breath.