Link: Harris Not One to Show Off
Rob Boone writes in Newsday about David Harris and his quiet but impressive season so far for the Jets.
The 6-2, 245-pound third-year inside linebacker, who played in only 11 games in an injury-plagued 2008 campaign, is off to a flying start and is making it crystal clear why the Jets simply said “No thanks” in September when Harris’ name was dropped as a player the Broncos wanted in any deal for wide receiver Brandon Marshall.
Harris, named the AFC defensive player of the week once this season, leads the Jets with 80 tackles and 31/2 sacks. He has an interception – “as bad as his hands are,” Pace cracked – five quarterback hits, three tackles for loss, a pair of passes defensed and a forced fumble in eight games.
Ryan noted that even though he’s quiet, he’s still super competitive and his own worst critic “he missed one tackle and it’s [still] killing him.” Having a player of Bart Scott’s abilities next to him, versus a guy like Eric Barton has been a major upgrade to the linebacking unit and to Harris’ ability to star in this defense. Harris is an excellent at reading and reacting, and that’s part of why even when he’s sitting in short coverage he’s able to close the gap on a scrambling QB and get some sacks.
When you see him as the MIKE, you have to wonder what Mangini was thinking trying to play him as the TED. Was Eric Barton that ill-suited at banging heads with a would be blocker? Mangini did some things well, but wasting Harris’s talent as a dedicated TED was one of the worst moves he ever made.
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I am not going to kill Mangini for anything with Harris. He wanted the guy and we went up to get him in the draft. He also knew he was going to replace Vilma (which was a huge upgrade in the 3-4)
Barton was so limited Mangini probably had zero choice in the matter. Remember when eveyone was screaming why was Mangini not playing Gholston more?
Mangini did things like play Rhodes 30 yards deep and play Harris at the TED and rush 3 lineman out of desperation to not get lit up every week with his unorganized version of the 3-4 defense
No choice in the matter? I doubt he sees it that way since he brought him to the Browns…
Thank the football gods that we didn’t trade this guy for Marshall (which pretty much everyone agreed would be a disaster).
David Harris should start showing off. Other than Patrick Willis, I’d say hes the best young ILB in the NFL.
Can’t say how much I love this guy. Great attitude, great skills, great player. Second favorite Jet after Leon.
Bassett,
I don’t agree with your statements of Harris being ineffective at the TED position because his talents weren’t used. I understand that the role of the middle linebacker in a 3-4 defense is primarily to help clog up the hole after the nose tackle has begun to make a push on the interior line. The middlelinebacker whichever position must be ready to take on blockers on any given play and its unfortunate that last year that Harris got hurt. He did his job admirably but he was not consistent. He needs to do whatever his coaches ask him to do. This year the scheme is a lot “lighter” so Harris can digest it very well and move on with Scott there. However, I said it before when it comes down on that one play when it really counts the jets front seven (even with Jenkins) versus the opposition’s front seven who will win? It was proven in the first Miami game when the jets’ front-seven was blown off the line.
Harris helped the run defense when he was healthy hold opponents to under 100 yards a game at the TED position.
Basset didn’t say Harris was ineffective at the TED. He’s saying that using Harris at the TED is a complete waste of his talents. This year you can clearly see Harris is a stud and playmaker, but because of Eric Barton’s lack of whatever-it-was Harris was forced to take on guards and fullbacks every play to spill the ball carriers towards Barton. Now with a talented TED vet like Scott next to him, Harris gets to do what he was meant to do: destroy ballcarriers and make plays. It’s not to say Harris didn’t make any plays from his TED spot, but Mangini putting him there instead of Barton limited Harris’ playmaking ability and opportunities.
Fonzie:
To add to that , anyone that says Scott deserves alot of credit for Harris’s monster year, has no idea what they are saying !!!!
Harris has been a monster LB from day one !!!
Take a look at his Wolverines numbers and you will see an animal responsible for their defense.
Holding opponent s(on the average) to LESS than 50 yards rushing per game 11 out of 13 times. Also had more than 40% more tackles than the next LB and 15 of those for a loss.
Harris is having a Monster year because Rex’s D fall in style with Harris’s attacking demeanor.
Scott is Rex’s pet project and signed to be the catalyst for this D. and the only thing catalyst (incendiary) has been his mouth, NOT his play !!
Linebackers capable of playing the TED role are few and far between.
Barton wasn’t very good at it, he’s better in space (and probably not as good at Harris at covering the TE). So no, he wasn’t the answer and I don’t disagree with the Jets using Harris in that role last year. In 2007, with Barton as the TED, Vilma was poor and Harris made a ton of plays, but the defense still wasn’t great. (In 2006, they were able to mask Vilma’s ineffectiveness by dropping him into coverage and putting Rhodes in the box, but this was not an option in the 2nd half of 2007 – or in 2008 – because Vilma wasn’t there and Elam’s emergence forced Rhodes into coverage duties).
The Jets are blessed to have two TEDs that can also play MIKE or in a 4-3 and are interchangeable.
Hank – Harris has indeed been a monster since day one and I agree that he deserves most of the credit, but Scott has been playing very well and has been a huge upgrade over Barton. Just like Fonzie says with Gholston over in another thread, taking on blockers is an important function of a team defense and without Scott doing that, Harris would not be able to excel as much as he has.
Bent:
Glad to hear from you. Did you ust get out counseling or what? I really thought you fell off the face of the earth because your trip to NY ended in such a devastating loss. My deep, deep condolances Bent.
Seriously though, you and I remember when Rex waited outside Scotts driveway, bravely ignoring the great chance that his dogs would shredd him to bits, to beg, I mean get him to sign. That he could be the MOUTH THAT ROARED and bring this team “TO THE WHITE HOUSE”
Well, Scott turned out to be ONE of the regular guys on D at best, and he is still getting hailed as SUPER STUDD ala Hollowood Rhodes.
Well now, Harris should be given all the credit that he deserves without ANY of the shine taken away undeservingly.
Hank,
No one is taking away from Harris’ credit. In case you haven’t noticed, he is clearly a fan favorite on this blog and we all are just as excited as you are to watch him develop into (hopefully) the best ILB in football. His talent is there, that’s for sure.
What we’re saying is you can’t simply say his success is solely because of his own play. In a 3-4 the ILB’s work as a pair. If one fails, the other’s job becomes instantly more difficult. If one succeeds then the other’s job becomes much easier. You can obviously tell the difference between Scott and Barton in the TED spot. So to say that Scott has nothing to do with Harris’ great first-half is incorrect.
Don’t worry about me, Hank, I’m obviously made of sterner stuff than you give me credit for. I had a great trip, thanks, despite the Jets losing that game.
Harris deserves all the credit in the world, but Scott’s impact has been exactly what I anticipated.
I guess covering TE’s and RB’s out of the backfield is something any ordinary guy can do….
Its amazing how this guy will take any opportunity he can to take shots at Scott, even when the topic has nothing to do with him
The simple fact is, if you understand at all what the Jets try to do defensively, there is NO ONE better at what Bart does in terms of his role is Rex’s defense.
With that being said, I give Mangini credit for getting DH. The guy is an absolute stud at ILB. Mangini’s problem is not being able to spot talent but how to use it to win in the NFL.
I love watching Harris in action, the guy was just born to play LB
Scott probably isn’t a superstar, but as others have pointed out his coverage skills are well above average and a substantial upgrade from Barton. He’s also shown some big play ability.
I think you also have to give him some credit, along w/ Leonhard and probably Douglass, for the relatively smooth transition into a new defense.