in-depth look at harris
OVERVIEW
Harris is a physical running back with great vision. He is a big, fast runner who has worked to become a more durable ball carrier and shows plenty of big-play potential, evident by his performance vs. East Carolina in 2004.
Harris was an all-county selection at Tampa Bay Technical High School, where he excelled in football, baseball and track. He won four state long jump titles with a best jump of 24-foot-7. He originally enrolled at the University of Miami coming out of high school, but opted to play professional baseball instead, signing with the Texas Rangers in 1997. But the center fielder failed to progress after three years of Class A ball and decided to give up the sport and return to football in 2001.
He was intending to enroll at Dodge City College, but felt he had better success if he went to Garden City (Kan.) Community College, which produced a player of similar style to Harris, Corey Dillon (Patriots). He split time in 2001, but still led the team with 1,137 yards and 11 touchdowns on 130 carries (8.7 avg.), adding 219 yards on 10 kickoff returns. He was banged up a bit in 2002, but still totaled 808 yards with eight scores on 122 tries and picked up 520 yards with a touchdown on 16 kickoffs.
Harris transferred to West Virginia in 2003, where he played behind Quincy Wilson. Despite not starting any games, he totaled 524 yards and four touchdowns on 91 attempts (5.8 avg.). He also caught five passes for 111 yards (22.2 avg.) and returned 18 kickoffs for 372 yards (20.7 avg.). He totaled 1,483 yards on 256 carries (5.8 avg.) with 14 touchdowns in 23 games with the Mountaineers. Harris also snatched 25 passes for 292 yards (11.7 avg.) and three scores, adding 372 yards on 18 kickoff returns (20.7 avg.).
For his entire collegiate career, Harris boasts an impressive average of 6.7 yards per carry. In 40 games, he amassed 3,428 yards and 33 touchdowns on 508 rushing attempts. He also gained 1,111 yards on 44 kickoff returns (25.3 avg.) and a score.
ANALYSIS
Positives Has a wide frame with adequate ankles, good lower-body muscle definition, thick thighs and calves, good bubble and big hands … Has a quick side step coming off the snap and good in-line lateral agility … Displays excellent field vision, capitalizing almost immediately when he spots a small seam through the line … Explodes through the holes with good power and delivers a bone-jarring stiff arm to run through and bounce off blocks … Has above-average speed to get to the corner and accelerates quickly when attacking the holes … Does a nice job of squaring his shoulders, lowering his pads and generating a powerful leg drive in order to break tackles running up the middle … Showed much better body control in 2004 and that allowed him to take a seam and gain positive yardage … Has that sudden burst needed to race past the wedge and break free down the sidelines as a kickoff returner and there are only very few players in college that display his tackling form on the special teams coverage units (16 tackles in 2003) … Despite his size, he is an elusive runner with a good slide step … Decent route runner, if used only on screens and dumpoffs … Runs with good body lean through the line, gets behind his pads well, generates above average foot quickness and lateral agility, can pick and slide at the line and displays the vision to see cutback lanes … Had some fumbling issues in 2003, but made marked improvement in that area … He now secures the ball well through the line, will switch hands once he gets into the clear and has that explosive second gear in the open field to prevent defenders from tracking him down.
Negatives Has a soft midsection and has had weight issues in the past … Good in the training room, but needs to be monitored during the offseason … Not really a shifty runner, as he lacks top speed, but can elude with his shake and wiggle … Looks uncomfortable when having to split wide in passing situations … As a receiver, he has been inconsistent, as he does have good hands and will extend and pluck away from the framework, but his problems arise when he tends to lose concentration, resulting in a few dropped easy passes … As a blocker, he will not face up with aggression and does not seem to give a focused effort, lacking good hand technique to shock and jolt … Did a much better job of waiting for his blocks to develop in 2004, but in the past, he showed impatience as a runner.
INJURY REPORT
2004 -- Left after the first series of the Central Florida game with a hamstring strain, but returned the next game … Left the Virginia Tech game with a knee sprain and missed the following game with knee and ankle injuries.
AGILITY
4.56 seconds in 40-yard dash … 38-inch vertical jump … 10-foot-2 broad jump … 4.10 seconds in shuttle run … 7.22 seconds in three-cone drill.
HIGH SCHOOL
