Overview
Position: Edge rusher
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 235
School: Missouri Tigers
Charles Harris 2017 NFL Draft Profile
Charles Harris comes from a long line of standout edge rushers from the Missouri football program. Sheldon Richardson, Aldon Smith, Shane Ray, Kony Ealy, Markus Golden and more have made a name in the NFL coming as sack masters from Missouri. It appears as though Harris will be just another name in that long list of studs.
It can speak to the coaching and ability that Missouri has to produce these talents when you look at the recruiting page for Harris. Harris was a two-star recruit coming out of prep school in Kansas City, Missouri. He played just two seasons of football before receiving his lone scholarship offer from his home state university in Missouri.
With his inexperience, and Ray, Golden and Michael Sam on the roster, the Tigers coaching staff decided to redshirt Harris. In his redshirt freshman season he still rotated in behind Ray and Sam. He put up two sacks, four tackles for loss, and a forced fumble with his limited work.
As a redshirt sophomore, he finally took over the rotation as a starter. He showed off everything he learned in the previous two seasons, and saw his stats shoot up. Harris recorded seven sacks, 18.5 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles. He was named second team All-SEC and it was safe to say that Harris was on the map.
His redshirt junior year saw the same success, and then some. He increased in sacks, up to nine. While he dropped in tackles for loss from 18.5 to 12, he did increase in tackles from 56 to 61, and forced two fumbles while deflecting two passes. Harris again was named second team All-SEC, and with two strong seasons of success, he decided to test the waters of the NFL draft. Given his reputation, and the production to match it, he will be a valued prospect. The question now is how high will he go?
Strengths
- Burst off of the ball.
- Speed and high end pass rushing capabilities.
- Ability to chase down running backs from behind.
- Has a strong spin move to go with his speed rush.
- Great athleticism.
- Strong body fluidity.
- Lateral agility.
Weaknesses
- Most of his strength comes from his burst and built up speed.
- Doesn’t have a strong bull rush.
- Can compete better with his hands to shed blocks.
- Better as a pass rusher than run defender.
- Needs better gap discipline.
NFL Comparison: Everson Griffen
Teams with needs at position: Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers, Indianapolis Colts, Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys
Projection: First round
Bottom Line
Harris has a floor of a third down, pass rushing specialist in the NFL. He is almost certainly going to be a sack master with his ability to burst off of the ball, pin his ears back and chase down the quarterback.
He tends to get up when defending the run, and has some issues in setting the edge. His playing strength will be a major question as well. However, his body type gives him the ability to gain weight, and become a well-rounded, powerful rusher to go with his great jump.
The ceiling for Harris is a Pro Bowl player, and given the track record of Missouri pass rushers, and his higher floor than others, he is almost certainly going to find himself in the first round. The rawness and the lack of complete overall game may drag him below the top ten, but in the middle of the first round, someone is going to find a great value pick with a great pass rusher in Charles Harris.
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