https://theathletic.com/3275928/2022/04/29/christian-harris-houston-texans/ With the No. 75 pick in the third round of the NFL Draft, Christian Harris brings to the Houston Texans the experience of being a three-year starter in the middle of Alabama’s defense. And the speed to run sideline to sideline. He was thrown into a starting inside linebacker role in his freshman year at Alabama when Dylan Moses was lost for the season in preseason camp. He never relinquished a starting role from that point forward, ultimately starting 40 games in three years. It was a baptism by fire that first season in 2019, as the Crimson Tide had two true freshmen manning their inside linebacker positions and much was asked of Harris. But he persevered and got better each year. Harris was at his best in his third and final season at Alabama, which makes sense because he had the most experience, but it was also because he was freed of the responsibility of calling the defense. Alabama added Tennessee transfer linebacker Henry To’o To’o, and To’o To’o took over the play-calling duties, freeing Harris up to just go make plays. His speed and instincts make him a natural at sniffing out plays and beating blockers to the point of attack to create negative plays. He finished with 79 tackles and 12.5 tackles for loss as a junior. Dane Brugler on Christian Harris (No. 5 LB, No. 46 overall prospect in The Beast) Harris is a do-everything breed of linebacker with the multidimensional skill set to drop in coverage, get downhill vs. the run or make plays in the backfield as a blitzer. He has a good feel for play direction but needs to pull the trigger a half-second quicker and better leverage his gaps as a take-on player. Overall, Harris must become more consistent diagnosing the action, but he is a versatile athlete with the play speed and intangibles to grow into a dependable NFL starter. Although still developing in several areas, he has the ceiling of a scheme-diverse, three-down player. Top college highlight It turned out to be more than just making a quarterback uncomfortable and moving him out of the pocket. This was actually a strip sack of Georgia’s Stetson Bennett in the national championship game that set up a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. What you may have missed Harris’ speed is one of his top attributes. Although he was recruited as a linebacker, he was quick enough to play defensive back and wide receiver in high school in Baton Rouge, La. That helps explain why he was able to run a 4.44 40-yard dash at the NFL combine as an inside linebacker. Coachspeak “I think that he’s been a very, very good player,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “He’s very athletic. I think he has improved dramatically from a year ago to this year and continues to make that kind of progress. He’s had a really good attitude about what he has tried to accomplish and what he is trying to do this year.”
Great player that will contribute for a long time. Has potential to be elite if he can stay healthy. He played through a ton of injuries and this has to be the major red flag as to why he wasn't drafted higher.
I did some Google searches for 2022 mock drafts published in May 2021. In those, Christian Harris was usually mocked in the middle of Round 1. Hilariously, most mocks from a year ago had many QBs going in the top half of round 1. As we know, zero went in (edit: the top of) Round 1. Shows you how much can change from year to year.
Watching a LINEBACKER tip away passes in coverage is something so foreign to me as a Texans fan.. Hated losing Cunningham for that reason and even he wasn't amazing at it. Now we drafted a linebacker that used to be a cornerback and a safety that used to play linebacker and guy in between them that can grab all the tips! Loving this!
