Shelby Harris Signs With Denver Broncos

Shelby Harris Signs with Denver Broncos

Most of Shelby Harris’s numbers went down in his 2020 season compared to the 2019 season, where he set most of his career highs. However, this can be partially attributed to missing five games. He recorded 32 combined tackles (20 solo) and 2.5 sacks. However, he did have 11 quarterback hits, which was a career-high. He also had seven pass deflections, which was tied for best in the league for a defensive lineman despite only playing 11 games.

Harris played in college with Illinois State. He was a seventh-round pick by the Las Vegas Raiders (then in Oakland) in 2014. Harris remained with the Raiders for two years and spent most of that time on the practice squad. He only played in eight games and got 21 tackles and one sack during that time. He didn’t play a single game in 2016, spending most of it unsigned.

The Denver Broncos picked Harris up in 2017, where he had his breakout season with 34 combined tackles and 5.5 sacks, the latter of which was second-best on the team. He also helped seal a win in Week 1 by blocking what would’ve been a game-tying field goal for the Los Angeles Chargers. While stats in 2018 overall went down, he had some more late-game heroics when he recorded his first career interception (and only one so far) by picking off Ben Roethlisberger in the end zone to prevent a game-tying touchdown.

In 2019 he became a full-time starter and recorded 49 combined tackles, six sacks, and nine pass deflections – all of which were career highs. He also had a game-winning deflection against the Raiders in the final game of the season by knocking down what would’ve been a game-winning two-point conversion pass by Derek Carr.

Thus far in his career, Harris has 168 combined tackles (103 solo), 16.5 sacks, 23 pass deflections, one interception, and two forced fumbles.