Senior cornerback on Rice's 2026 roster.
5′10″ · 181 lb · Gretna, LA · Helen Cox
How he projects
Doesn't get beat deep and rarely gives up the big play.
Grades highest in speed and zone coverage.
The full scouting readRecruiting
CB recruit
No. 1116 nationally · Signed with Minnesota
Last played in 2025.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Senior cornerback on Rice's 2026 roster.
Tariq Watson
Doesn't get beat deep and rarely gives up the big play. Three head coaches in four seasons, at two different programs. One game to point at: 6 tackles against Memphis — Week 8, 2025.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
His career
The role got bigger.
Career arc
Coaching lineage · 2022–2025
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Mike Bloomgren → Scott Abell. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Where He Ended Up · Transfer
Transferred to Rice
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 8 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 52-42vs Alabama State | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 24-38@ Navy | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 24-56@ Tennessee | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 8 | W 31-24vs Memphis | 6 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 6 tackles |
| Wk 10 | L 19-38@ UConn | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 24-53vs North Texas | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 13 | L 18-48vs South Florida | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 31-24@ Tulsa | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 12 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 |
Season context · Team result + system
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Concern: tackles for loss (7th percentile).
Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.
Defender profile · Production by role
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
17%2 pass breakupsTackle volume
12tackles this season12 tackles · 2 pass breakups.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 2.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Road4g | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 1.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Scott Abell
Pass share
21.5%
40 pass / 146 run
Plays / game
62.0
3 games
Team sack rate
4.5%
44 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy, slow tempo.
Player standing · 2025
Tackle volume for the position at the early end of the ladder.
Play style
Steady in coverage; doesn't get beat deep and rarely gives up the big play.
CFB Index positional classification
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
12 tackles. 2 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 0 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
Player DNA
Steady in coverage; doesn't get beat deep and rarely gives up the big play.
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Sam Westfall’s 2022 season.
Matches Sam on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Jay'Vion Cole's senior season at Arizona (2025).
Matches Jay'Vion on
Player DNA
Transfer from UAB, who adds nearly 600 snaps of defensive experience to the Owls' cornerback room, having played in 34 games with eight career starts. UAB 2025 Played in nine games and made seven starts... Credited with 12 tackles, two PBU, and one QB Hurry... Picked up six of his 12 tackles on…
14 more on the roster · Rice team page