Rookie Report Card: Kareem Hunt and Tarik Cohen

Dan Meylor

Each week throughout the season, I’ll cover at least two rookies in the Rookie Report Card and try to always include the biggest performers from that particular week. On top of reviewing my expectations for each player coming into the league and covering how he’s performed at the NFL level to this point, I’ll actually give him a grade in three categories. Those categories are performance to date, 2017 potential and long term upside.

The series kicks off with a look at a pair of rookie tailbacks, Kareem Hunt and Tarik Cohen.

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Kareem Hunt, RB KC
Week One Stats: 17 carries, 148 rushing yards (8.7 YPC), one touchdown, five receptions, 98 receiving yards, two touchdown receptions (5 targets)

Coming out of Toledo, Hunt was known as an ideal sized tailback (5’-10”, 216 pounds) with quick feet, good vision and great ball security. If you watched his college tape, he appeared to be a man among boys, running for nearly 5,000 yards, averaging 6.3 yards per carry and scoring 44 rushing touchdowns in his four years as a Rocket.

When he was selected by Chiefs in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft, many fantasy owners questioned what kind of opportunity he’d get as a rookie with veteran Spencer Ware already in place. Meanwhile, dynasty owners were equally as inconsistent during early rookie drafts as Hunt was going as highly as the middle of the first round but as low as the opening picks in the second round.

All of those question marks were removed as quickly as a knee buckles. Once Ware was lost for the season during the Chiefs’ third preseason game, Hunt shot up draft boards to the extent that he was going as highly as third overall in late rookie drafts.

If rookie drafts were held today, he might go as early as first overall and would certainly be considered by everybody with a top pick.

Hunt was brilliant in his first game as a pro – after fumbling on his opening carry. He showed excellent vision and good patience early in the game, setting up blocks with stutter steps and subtly sliding into running seems to pick up yardage in chunks against a quality defense. Also showing very good balance and power, he broke arm tackles, stayed on his feet with defenders around his legs and used a quality stiff arm to keep tacklers away from him. As the game wore on, Hunt wore down the Patriots’ defense, finishing runs violently, delivering blows and always falling forward for positive yardage.

Perhaps most surprising – at least to me – was how smooth Hunt looked as a pass catcher against the Patriots. Despite his big numbers in college, he didn’t show game changing ability as a pass catcher. Steady and solid, catching 41 passes as a senior, he showed good hands and the ability to be a check-down pass catcher but never displayed the route running to be a weapon out of the backfield in the passing game.

Hunt’s 78-yard touchdown on a wheel route that turned into him splitting the Patriots’ defense down the seam was nothing short of spectacular. Clearly a mismatch for any linebacker in coverage due to his speed, he proved he can more than an underneath target in the passing game.

Overall, Hunt was as impressive as he could be in his debut. Smooth, decisive, and powerful, he showed he has high RB1 upside behind a good offensive line and in an offense willing to feature him.

Despite almost certainly having already seen his best game this year (if not his career), Hunt is a weekly RB1 and should be looked at as such in trade negotiations. I wouldn’t trade him for a single draft pick, and would need a high first plus something useful to even consider an offer for the Kansas City rookie.

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Tarik Cohen, RB CHI
Week One Stats: five carries, 66 rushing yards, eight receptions, 47 receiving yards, one touchdown reception (12 targets)

To be completely honest, Tarik Cohen wasn’t even on my radar until the pre-season. Sure I saw his name cross on the bottom line during NFL draft weekend, but when I looked him up and saw his meager size (5’-6”, 179 pounds), I instantly wrote him off.

Huge mistake!

Cohen resurfaced for me in a big way during the preseason, showing eye popping quickness and change of direction skills rarely seen. In week two of the preseason against the Cardinals, he carried 11 times for 77 yards including an electrifying 25 yard run. Showing incredible vision to go along with his world class explosion at the line of scrimmage, he instantly became a speculative add for dynasty owners.

After touching the ball only once in week three of the preseason – which is typically known as the dress rehearsal – many soured on if Cohen would make an impact as a rookie. But when he was held out of the fourth and final pre-season game, beat writers in Chicago began to speculate Cohen would have an immediate role. I don’t think anybody saw what happened in week one coming, however.

In his debut with the Bears, Cohen touched the ball 13 times for 113 yards and a score. The Chicago coaching staff used him perfectly, force-feeding him the ball in space with perimeter runs and check down passes against man coverage. Even getting targets out of the slot and as an outside receiver, he was utilized brilliantly in week one.

What he did with his opportunities was even more impressive than his usage. His 15-yard run on a pitch play to the right late in the first quarter featured excellent vision and a sharp cutback to get behind the block of his fullback. In the second quarter, he took a similar pitch to the left but had three defenders in the backfield so he simply reversed fields completely, turned on the jets and broke a tackle before being brought down from behind 40-yards downfield. On another play, he was surrounded by five Falcons at the line of scrimmage and still turned the play into a five-yard gain by lowing his shoulder, squeaking past a tackler and sliding forward with draped all over him. On top of all of this, he caught a touchdown which featured him running over an Atlanta defensive back and showed his electrifying return skills going back deep on punts.

Tarik Cohen is an ideal case of talent meets perfect opportunity. Dynasty owners should see him in the same light as Darren Sproles in his prime with the Saints. A PPR-monster in the making, he’s immediately startable and has the potential to finish his rookie season as an RB2 in PPR leagues.

Fortunately for me, despite ignoring Cohen during the early rookie draft season I was still able to get Cohen on a few rosters through late drafts and waivers. Hopefully you were able to do the same thing and if not, you’re able to find a Cohen owner willing to “sell high” on him now.

Easily worth any future second round rookie pick and worthy of a late first in PPR leagues, I’m sending out offers this week and hoping to add Cohen to more rosters. Meanwhile, I wouldn’t accept anything but an early to mid-first rounder for the playmaking rookie.

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dan meylor