Thank you Tennessee for the gift of Jatavious Harris. Coach Petrino may have signed his very own Devante Parker. The UofL receiving corps should be special for years to come with Harris in the fold.
The 6’3 184 lbs Harris is tall and athletic. Speed is a recurring theme in this class and Harris has a ton of it.
Watching highlights of Harris, it’s pretty easy to see why Petrino coveted him. He has excellent size at 6’3. Harris is quite physical and seems hard to press on the outside. He has great ability to get through the press coverage and get behind the defense.
Harris seems great at tracking the ball in the air and making adjustments to make the catch. Even if it’s a little behind him or low, he will catch it. Reminds me of Dez Fitzpatrick in this regard.
Another trait Harris shares with nearly our entire class of WRs is his catch radius. He has sure hands, great leaping ability, and long arms. He’s excellent at high pointing the ball and snatching it over smaller DBs.
Drops and fumbles should be a rarity for him as he usually uses his hands to make catches and seems to protect the ball instinctively in traffic. Harris has the potential to be a matchup nightmare for secondaries because of his abilities, much like Devante Parker once was.
Harris should be a devastating yards after catch WR. He’s difficult to bring down and has some nifty moves in the open field. His high school team used him quite a bit on end around runs and he made nice cuts. This should serve him well developing his route running skills which are good, but will get better with Lonnie Galloway teaching him.
Harris has one other weapon. That weapon is speed. Harris is fast and on the tape he actually used his speed to beat a double coverage. If the QB had thrown the ball in stride, Harris would’ve had an easy TD. His speed is also evident in the return game where he had a few kick return TDs. He could help UofL immediately as a kick returner.
Bobby Petrino is really doing a great job of finding playmakers for whoever the QB will be next year. Harris seems like he can come in and play early as a returner. He may also get reps at WR.
However, with UofL relatively deep at WR, they may red shirt him and let him develop a little more physically. Regardless, UofL got themselves a high quality WR who will undoubtedly make an impact.
Check out his senior season highlights courtesy of Hudl below and see what you think.
http://www.hudl.com/video/3/4095442/5a1b7012bd6a7c01d02ca1a5