Heading into Sunday's playoff game against the Chicago Bears, it is fairly obvious that the player the Eagles need to worry about the most on defense is running back Tarik Cohen.
A player they could have had in 2017.
Although hindsight is always 20/20 — especially in the fourth round — the Eagles passing on Cohen in the 2017 NFL Draft could come back to haunt them on Sunday. Cohen went one pick after the Eagles selected receiver Mack Hollins with the 118th overall pick. The Eagles knew they needed a running back — a clear need on the roster at the time — but passed on Cohen.
They instead selecting running back Donnel Pumphrey 13 picks later.
Cohen has gone on to be exactly the kind of player the Eagles hoped Pumphrey would be. He is an explosive offensive weapon for the Bears, and a player the Eagles will have to deal with on Sunday.
"It can be a lot because you can move him around, bring him out of the backfield. You could put him in unique formations," Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said of the pressure Cohen can put on a defense. "You can jet motion him, jet sweep him. Create some matchups with linebackers with him in the passing game."
Cohen has seen almost a 50/50 split this season between the run and the passing game. He has 99 carries and 71 catches on 91 targets. He has totaled 1,169 yards and eight touchdowns. In two seasons with the Bears, he has four catches over forty-yards and two runs of 30 yards-or-more.
"It can be a little bit of a challenge for a defensive coordinator to plan for something like that, and from our standpoint, I think you just have to remain disciplined. You have to trust the scheme, trust your eyes, trust your instincts," Pederson said. "And we use a phrase, 'be where your feet are,' and make sure that you're there when you're supposed to be there. And then of course you have to tackle him and get him on the ground because he's definitely elusive."
Although Cohen is explosive, he has been inconsistent this season. Cohen has been dominant at times, but he has topped 100 total yards in just four of the Bears' 16 games this season. He has finished with less than 50 total yards in seven games.
How the Eagles go about covering Cohen will be interesting. He is not the Bears' only weapon on offense, but he is the most explosive, and he is in some ways the only one that is a homerun threat on any play. Cohen is similar to Darren Sproles in the way that he is an instant mismatch against almost any linebackers. That is especially true on the Eagles, as really only linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill has anywhere close to the speed needed to stick with Cohen.
The Eagles could decide to have safety Malcolm Jenkins account for Cohen, as Jenkins has routinely been the player the defense has asked to shadow the other team's best weapon when needed. Cornerback Avonte Maddox might be the best option overall, given his speed and size, but if he is playing outside cornerback it is going to be tough to ask him to cover Cohen when he is out on the field.
How the Eagles will cover Cohen remains to be seen, but one thing is clear — they can't afford to let Cohen get going on Sunday if they plan on advancing past this weekend.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
