Tarik Cohen Fantasy Outlook Includes Limited Upside With High Weekly Floor in 2020

With David Montgomery banged up, the Chicago Bears backfield becomes a cloudy unit for fantasy football purposes. Tarik Cohen is clearly the team's No. 2 back, but his role may not actually change much with Montgomery out.

However, Cohen's work as a receiver means that he'll be a safe fantasy football producer regardless of Montgomery's health. That safety may include a fairly low ceiling, though.

After rushing for 814 yards and 5 touchdowns on 186 carries across his first two NFL seasons, Cohen posted career low rushing marks across the board in 2019 with 64 carries for 213 yards and 0 TDs.

His usage as a receiver evolved, however, as he posted career high numbers in both targets (104) and receptions (79).

Effectively the team's No. 2 WR behind Allen Robinson, Cohen is as much WR as he is RB at this point. In 2019 he played 49.8 percent of his snaps in the slot, which built on his 47.9 percent mark from 2018.

Combining high target volume with a low average depth of target (3.6 yards in 2018, 1.8 in 2019), it's no surprise to see Cohen post a high catch rate and rack up big reception totals. That combination hurts his potential fantasy upside, however, while also boosting his floor.

Cohen played a full 16-game season in 2019, and he did not eclipse 19.0 PPR fantasy points in any game. He did, however, post at least 9.0 in 10 of 16 contests.

These numbers make Cohen something of a unique player in fantasy football. If you're in a PPR league and have some risky RBs on your team, having Cohen as a high-floor fall back option could be a viable strategy. In 14-team leagues, his consistency also becomes more interesting because it will be harder to fill out your starting lineup.

However, in traditional 12-team drafts (and especially best ball drafts), this low upside makes Cohen a pretty underwhelming pick. Champions aren't won and lost on 10-point games from an eighth-round RB.

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.