Drake Harris
Name: Drake Harris
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 181 lbs.
High school: Grand Rapids (MI) Christian
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #14
Last year: I ranked Harris #37 and said he would be a backup wide receiver with 15 catches for 225 yards and 2 TDs (LINK). He made 6 catches for 39 yards.
Harris came in for a ton of spring and summer hype last off-season. According to some, he was the most impressive receiver on the roster. He wasn’t. Jehu Chesson had a breakout season, Amara Darboh did what he does, and Harris was mainly a decoy of one sort or another. He quietly made 6 catches, but he didn’t do anything outstanding on a team that was lacking much depth at the position. Truthfully, it wasn’t too disappointing since the guy had been sitting out for two seasons with a nagging hamstring problem, but it didn’t inspire me to predict greatness.
So here Harris is at #42. Chesson and Darboh return, so Harris probably won’t start unless Chesson’s injury lingers from last season. Even if he does, there are other young guys who could make a push for playing time, along with Maurice Ways, who is recovering from his own injury. Harris himself is still only 181 lbs. and looks like he could be snapped in two by a couple of kids mistaking him for a wishbone at Thanksgiving. I think Harris might get pushed out of the way by some younger guys during his career, but for now, Harris – who did an okay job of blocking – has the experience edge on most.
Prediction: Backup wide receiver; 9 catches, 90 yards, 1 TD
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Man was I wrong last year when I said Darboh and Chesson lacked big-play ability. Yet another example of how one shouldn’t write-off players who earn playing time before their senior years.
Harris though, hasn’t contributed much at all, and got passed over by 3-star freshman. As the season went on he faded further into irrelevance. Things open up next year, but with a wave of talented freshman WR recruits hitting campus this year (and maybe next too) the window for Harris to be a bigtime player is going to close quickly if he doesn’t establish himself as a quality backup option this year.
Hopes are dim at this point for Harris to live up to his recruiting hype – I’d have Harris significantly lower on the countdown again this year. At best he’s a 4th WR and possible injury replacement, but there’s a lot of competition for that 4th WR spot and Harris hasn’t done much to show he will keep it.
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if you said Darboh was not a big play receiver last year, you were right. He is more of a possession guy at 12 yards per reception.
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Yeah, Darboh isn’t/wasn’t a big-play guy. He did seem to get faster going into last season, but he was still just so-so when it came to running after the catch or beating players with his speed. He did make that nice one-hander against BYU, but he didn’t get any separation on that play and might not have needed to make such a great catch if he were a half-step quicker. I’m not really complaining because he’s a solid receiver, but his big-play ability isn’t anything noteworthy.
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Yeah, but FWIW Harbaugh’s saying he’s #1 at this point. I don’t buy that but maybe he can make a Chesson-like leap.
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