Let me preface by saying, initially, I wasn't interested in Charles Harris. Prior to the extensive film study that led to my divorce (didn't really get divorced, at least I don't think, I've been pretty wrapped up in pre-draft season), I wanted Tim Williams and Carl Lawson. As a Razorback fan, I'll admit, I'm pro SEC, but that is not the reason I am now interested in Harris.

The first thing that caught my eye with Harris was the beautiful power spin. I can't remember which game I was watching, but I was somewhat bored until he spun the left tackle out of his shoes. I could have still turned off the tape and simply graded him as a raw pass rusher with a diet deficient in run support, but the spin was too nice to ignore. Why did it work so well? Man for a guy of that size, he spun so quickly, where have I seen that before? There must be more to this dude. I soon found myself watching all of the games that the soulless crutch known as the internet had to offer on this kid. Pros and cons galore. For this post, I am only going to focus on some of his pros. I created some files in graphic interchange format (GIF, just learned that) from one of his games. The season opener against West Virginia where his stat-line is very weak, showing only 2 tackles, 0 for loss, and 0 sacks. How could you find anything in that game you might ask. Some may say I'm a dreamer, but I can't remember my dreams most of the time, so.... Anyway, here we go.

GIF #1

Notice, it is 3rd down with 7 yards to go. This is a passing down so his ears are pinned back. The ball is snapped with around 10 seconds left on the play clock. The tackle kicks out to protect the edge because Harris, prior to this play, was mainly attacking his outside shoulder and winning the one on one enough to cause a threat. Harris burst, although not "elite", is seen here, but, that is not why I'm showing this GIF. I'm showing the inside rip move that he uses in this game. It looks like he sells a bull rush before making his move to turn the tackles hips inside and then rips through. He doesn't get the sack, but he disrupts the play and I'll take it. The QB was nimble enough to side step him, whereas Brady would have folded and went to the ground. He does it often enough when he thinks he's going to get hit for me to believe he would have folded in this situation. We want to beat Brady Right? Right? I mean, am I right?

GIF #2

Harris recognizes the double team, so, instead of running into it by working the outside shoulder, he reacts appropriately with a quick move to the inside. The tackle corrects to get inside position in order to prevent Harris from ripping inside. Harris uses timely hands to knock the tackle off balance, then dips and rips through the tackle's outside shoulder, closing in on the QB. He didn't get a sack though. Nope, he didn't. The QB did throw a pick however, and, had there not been only 18 seconds left in the half, I would have said it was an ill advised throw. Point is, if we are at different times of the game, a good QB doesn't take that chance, holds the ball a bit longer and he gets sacked by Mr. Harris using a move other than a spin.

GIF #3

A run play?? There aren't any pros to Harris' game in run support. Well, there aren't many. He didn't do this a lot, so it could easily be missed. He doesn't shed this block, he grabs and slings his opponent to the ground and gets an assist. Not a lot to analyze here. Basically, the big dude tried to push the little dude with too much force and the little dude used the big dude's force against him. It was just a dude trying to play a dude, who got played by a dude, who ended up hitting another dude. Horrible. Not erasing. Moving on.

GIF #4

This play looks like a run/pass option the way the line is blocking. A TE is assigned to block Harris but looks like he was caught off guard by Harris' quick first step causing him to lunge in an attempt to get a hand on him. Harris uses a swim move to quickly get around him. Just another move he has shown and we haven't even gotten to the fairest of them all.

The Spin Move (dah – dah – dahh, picture the belt from "The Croods".)

This is not a finesse move. Look at the power displayed during the twist causing the tackle to fly off of him in the first gif. That is explosive athleticism. Do they have a drill for that at the combine to measure? If they did, his sparq would ignite.

All of this is from one game. A game in which Harris' stats were less than pedestrian. No, Harris doesn't have elite burst or elite bend or elite hands or (I could probably go on).

My goal is to show that you can win without those things as long as they are adequate, and I believe his ability in those areas are at least adequate. There is more to his game, but I'm hoping this is enough to persuade people to further educate themselves about crabs. Whoops, I was reading a Trump tweet. Maybe you want to avoid Harris like crabs after this, hopefully not.

What I didn't touch on was his quick feet. Not quick first step, but quick feet, nimble feet. He works well within the small space of battle and has a nice juke move that can cause tackles to lose balance. Once the tackle is off balance, he is able to use either the dip n rip, swim, or bull rush to get to the quarterback. Teach the kid how to tomahawk after a juke, combine all of that with his spin and you are looking at years with a successful edge rusher. Just my opinion. He will probably bust. Thank you for your time, there is a comment section below, please stay out of it. Kidding of course, comments are welcome.