Carolina Panthers Head Coach Ron Rivera was asked in Wednesday’s press conference if the team had scouted Chicago Bears rookie running back Tarik Cohen. The answer was no.
This is particularly interesting as Cohen played just an hour and a half from Bank of America Stadium as a member of the North Carolina A&T State University Aggies.
Cohen had a dynamic career for the Aggies rushing for 1,588 yards and 18 touchdowns in his senior season. He averaged a little over 1,400 yards per season in his four years in Greensboro.
Cohen was drafted in the 4th round by the Chicago Bears and has played in all 6 games this season; starting in one. On Sunday, Cohen threw his first career touchdown pass on a trick play becoming the shortest player to throw a touchdown pass in 83 years.
Tarik Cohen DIME pic.twitter.com/eHiyJzD45q
— Michael Gallagher (@MikeSGallagher) October 15, 2017
Chicago Bears Head Coach John Fox talked about Cohen on the conference call Wednesday afternoon and he stated that Cohen proved himself to be a “human joystick” from the first day of practice.
Players coming from HBCUs have a much steeper path to success as they are not normally on the radar for professional teams. Rivera stated that these players are normally only looked at when they are playing Division 1 teams. NCA&T is a Division 1-AA school.
Flip the page to watch Rivera’s explanation for Cohen not even showing up on the Panthers’ radar despite being a stone’s throw away.