PFW: Brandon Harris Didn't Play Because Of A "Lack Of Speed?"

…love his alleged football IQ (coach’s son), but if you make Kareem Jackson look fast, then I can’t help but wonder if we traded up for a bust.

Was speed an issue for him in college? He had a 4.53 40-time at the Combine. Not blazing fast, but certainly not slow.

If he couldnt get on the field for special teams.

PFW is pretty much guessing IMO.

Harris was drafted because wade thought mccain couldnt be the nickel corner. Since mccain has played well all year in that spot, no need for harris to play.

I bet he gets a good chance next year to play jason allens snaps, and if he does poorly, you have carmichael who also has a chance to be a solid #2

Sorry, wrong Texas team.

Not sure how much stock should be put into this report, though it’s only explanation offered for his lack of playing time so far. We’ll just have to wait until next season and see if he plays more.

If your second round draft pick doesn’t get on the field, that’s a problem.

At this point I would not be terribly surprised to see us draft another CB in the first 2-3 rounds.

If he was slow, why would they have traded up in the draft to get him? It makes no sense.

I’m going to go with the more logical explanation, he was Fucoby’s roommate during camp.

As long as quin and manning are capable in helping on kareems side our pass rush should be dominant enough to make plays and force bad ones. Next year with our offense getting back into the top 5 we will be able to tee off our pass rush more often helping protect kareem or Harris.

Some around here hate to admit it, but the Texans were kind of deep at Corner Back this year.

http://www.profootballweekly.com/2012/01/22/what-will-texans-do-with-mario-williams

I am also echoing my prediction that Roc Carmichael is a future starter on this team.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbQFAqEYI2k

Some thoughts I have about Brandon Harris after seeing it:

* Plays a bit too physical beyond the 5-yard bump zone in order to stay with his guys. It’s a subtle kind of physical though, could easily be called interference or could be ignored by refs.

* Plays with a cushion (often 10 yards or more)

* Very good zone awareness

* Great ball skills, times his attacks on the ball really well (be it when making contact with a receiver or timing his jumps well to prevent taller receivers from bringing a jump ball in)

* Solid in run support

* Doesn’t ever seem to be out of position in coverage (closes well when he is)

* I could definitely see a very accurate passer or a speed receiver exposing him on deep routes, though I think this could be said about all but the elite CBs in the NFL.

After watching that video, I can see why folks thought highly of him. Heck, the Steelers were planning to pick him if we didn’t. Given the defensive talent on both the Steeler and Texans rosters, I have a hard time believing both teams would have been wrong.

I think the more likely case is that yes, his lack of speed DID keep him off the field, but NOT because he lacks sufficient playing speed, but just because he’s not as fast as Brice McCain (perhaps our fastest player; Trindon doesn’t count). Brice has actually played pretty decently (would be curious if FO or PFW stats could back that up), so I suspect it wasn’t anything Brandon Harris did wrong that kept him off, but rather, something Brice McCain did right. Now, as to why he didn’t see time on special teams, that I’m not sure of. Perhaps it’s because he’s a smaller guy or that because he wasn’t going to get field time on defense he became an easy scratch from the active roster each week.

I really hope he can find his way into the starting lineup. He was the pick I was most excited about coming out last years draft (probably because of all the inept CBs we had on the roster going into the draft). I know this might sound idiotic, but I am going to put it out there anyways because I love the movie so much, BUT I think BHarr may have a little seabiscuit in him. More of a gamer type. Smaller scrappy guy who just needs to be out on the field, across from the reciever. In college he just seemed to make alot of plays and was around the ball alot. I remember there was some stat like he gave up 2 or 3 TDs in his first game as a freshman or soph, then he didnt give up another the rest of his time at Miami. I may be crazy, but I think if you work him into the lineup, and get his NFL legs under him, he will show he has way bigger cojones and swagger than Kareem Jackson. Besides, he couldn’t be much worse than KJ right?

Sure, the team had hoped for good things from him. But, the draft is like a game of horseshoes. Sometimes you hit a ringer, sometimes the horseshoe bounces off and doesn’t even score. If Harris can’t cut it, he will get cut. He is smallish and one of the ways he could boost his value is with speed. If he doesn’t have speed, he’s just a small, slow guy and those guys don’t usually do well at the NFL CB position. The good news is that the Texans have become a deeper team, which make Harris a peripheral player and they can look to improve that position in the draft. He is depth at best right now and on the street at worst. in the future.

why draft him in the 2nd round, trading up to do so no less, if they had concerns about his speed?

harris will play next year and play well

jason allen will not be back