Denver Broncos Rookie Chris Harris the Hidden Gem of the Class of 2011

“I’m fascinated by Chris Harris. I’m mad at myself. I made several phone calls this morning around the league trying to find out more about this kid, because he was way off radar screens. Matter of fact, he wasn’t invited to the combine. I did no tape work on the kid whatsoever because he was not listed as a draftable player. So here he is out of nowhere, starting in the nickel package, making plays, prominent on special teams — I couldn’t be happier for this kid. I’m going to spend the next couple days trying to figure out who this kid is, why he didn’t get drafted, what did I miss, what did other teams miss. He’s a kid I’m really enjoying watching.”

That was what NFL Network analyst and NFL Draft guru Mike Mayock said prior to the Denver Broncos-New York Jets Thursday night matchup, and rookie cornerback Chris Harris hasn’t turned back since then.

The Broncos signed Harris as an undrafted free agent out of Kansas when the lockout ended, so he was already at a disadvantage having not even gotten a look as an undrafted kid coming out of a school not exactly known for, well, football in general.

Add on to that that Harris was a 5’9″ ‘safety’ prospect according to NFL Draft Scout and the 30th ranked free safety to boot, there was really no reason for Mayock to evaluate this guy unless he was watching some Big 12 wide receiver, right?

Turns out, there has not been any other cornerback in the rookie class of 2011 who has been more “productive” this season than Harris according to Pro Football Focus, who ran a 4.48 at his Kansas pro day.

“Outside of Richard Sherman, no cornerback from 2011 draft class can make an argument for having been more productive on defense thus far than Harris and, in my opinion, Harris is the all-around more valuable player. While Sherman’s 48.5% completion percentage against looks far more impressive than Harris’ 73.2%, their coverage numbers aren’t so different when you look a little deeper. Sherman’s 32 catches allowed have yielded 403 yards to Harris’ 340 on 30 catches. So, while Harris allows a far greater percentage of balls to be completed, many of those catches can be considered wins for the defense. He is also an asset in run support with 16 defensive stops in 331 snaps, a rate exceeding that of any other cornerback this season besides Antoine Winfield.”

Harris burst onto the scene with his performance against Green Bay after Cassius Vaughn proved to be ineffective as the #2 corner for Denver, and he has been a key part of a resurgent defense ever since. With the Broncos losing both Vaughn and Syd’Quan Thompson to season ending injuries and having Andre’ Goodman on the injury report more than they would like, Harris has seen an increased role and has really been impressive.

He has 52 tackles and an interception in 13 games with three starts, and has been a huge factor in the Broncos’ recent six game winning streak. He nearly picked off Bears quarterback Caleb Hanie in the Broncos’ latest comeback, and would have likely been gone for six points had he not dropped the ball.

This is a guy who is really fun to watch because he plays with such great heart and has an awesome passion for the game. I think he’s going to continue to get better and be a key part of the Denver defense.

Of course, learning from guys like Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins can’t hurt.