With faith in his scouting department, Chicago Bears General Manager Ryan Pace targeted small-school players on the final day of the 2017 NFL Draft.
Sandwiched around the fourth-round pick of Alabama safety Eddie Jackson, the Bears sandwiched the selections of North Carolina A&T RB Tarik Cohen and Kutztown T Jordan Morgan.
The Bears started the day by moving up five spots, trading the No. 117 and 197 overall picks to the Los Angeles Rams for the fifth pick in the fourth round (No. 112 overall) and selected DE Eddie Jackson from Alabama, a two-time All-SEC performer.
With the 13th pick in the fourth round (No. 119 overall), the Bears selected RB Tarik (TA-reek) Cohen from North Carolina A&T. Tarik, a speedy 5-6, 176-pounder, became the first player to win MEAC Offensive Player of the Year honors three times.
Then with the third pick in the fifth round, the Bears selected 6-3, 309-pound OL Jordan Morgan from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, who started all 43 games of his career.
Pace said he felt comfortable with the players chosen, whether they were from a household college program or a lower-level school. “Yeah, that’s a good question. I give credit to our scouts and our coaches and all of the work that we’ve done. There’s so much that goes into this and there’s so much knowledge gained on these players that makes John and I feel more comfortable when we’re making these decisions. So, whether it’s a one-year starter or a small school player or a guy coming off injury, we’ve thoroughly researched these things to feel good about them. I think in regards to the small school thing, we’ve all had players that we’ve been part of that and have been highly successful. I look at Jordan Morgan today and I hate to make comparisons to players, but we took a guy in New Orleans, Jahri Evans, who ended up being a great player from Bloomsburg. So, I think you believe what you see on tape. You have conviction on players. I’ve said this before that I feel like when we have a consensus in the building on a player, those decisions are fun to make and exciting to make and I’m really excited to see what some of these guys do on this stage, because we’re confident in their abilities.”
Jackson, a 6-0, 194-pounder from Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, owns the Alabama record for career interception return yards with 303 on nine interceptions. He was a first team All-SEC selection and a second team All-American in 2015 after making the transition to safety. He led the team in interceptions that year with six, two of which he returned for touchdowns. He then earned second tea
Cohen, nicknamed “The Human Joystick”, helped lead the Aggies to a 9-3 regular-season record in 2016 and a berth in the FCS Playoffs. His 2016 campaign was a record-breaking one. He set single-season school records in rushing (1,588) and touchdowns (19) and earned All-America honors from four different outlets. Cohen leaves college as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s all-time leading rusher with 5,619 yards and its first three-time offensive player of the year. The Slant…NFL Draft Guide shared this perspective:
A two-time little All-America first team selection, Morgan started all 43 games in his Golden Bear career at Kutztown. This season he was became the first offensive lineman in PSAC history to be named PSAC East Offensive Athlete of the Year. READ MORE