Hope for Harris?

Hope is all we've got, considering the lackluster season he had in his rookie year.

These stats show he actually compares pretty well vs 2017 pass rushing peers:

https://twitter.com/PFF_Steve/status/985945878673395712

PFF ratings are a mystery to me...I have no idea what "peak pass rush grade" even means or how it is calculated.

Bottom line for me: Harris played a ton of snaps as a rookie and managed to total just 19 tackles and 2 sacks.

For comparison sake, when looking at tackles and sacks for the 2017 rookies on that chart - Barnett, Watt, Charlton and even Solomon Thomas had more tackles and sacks than Harris (actually, Charlton had the same number of tackles, but more sacks). Looking at forced fumbles, Harris had zero - and Barnett, Watt and Charlton each had one. And, I'm pretty sure that Harris had more snaps than all of those guys except Watt - but I'd have to check on that.

Anyway, not sure what the PFF grade means - but I do know that Harris made less of an impact than the other guys on that list. Maybe Harris will improve, but I just don't think he's got a very high ceiling. Seems like the Phins are also concerned, because they're shelling out $12 million in 2018 for a free agent DE (Quinn).

I believe "peak pass rush grade" roughly translates to "subscribe to our site because we say things like peak pass rush grade, something we made up to sound smarter than you. If you act now and give us money, we'll explain how these terms and stats can help you win internet football arguments, which is what you're really here for, isn't it?"

I can do it too.

Harris' 3rd down Critical Play Rush Factor rating is higher on the scale than his Potential Critical Miss Factor on average, leaving his Aggregate Critical Role Rating at the 34th percentile among other 3rd down rated athletes in the same position. When compared to every-down players, however, his rating diminishes somewhat.

That's amazing analysis right there, Degarmo. Where do I send the $$$ to subscribe???

I thought it was simply the best graded game for each player last season in the NFL, vs best graded game in college.

Don't know if there's any solid conclusions to draw, but I thought it was encouraging nonetheless.

Hey, I'm supposed to be the optimist around here! Let me latch onto something - ANYTHING - that would suggest we drafted somebody worth something in round 1!

yea, i don't get this at all as there are several guys rated lower on that list that clearly played better than Harris.

white1 wrote:I thought it was simply the best graded game for each player last season in the NFL, vs best graded game in college.

Don't know if there's any solid conclusions to draw, but I thought it was encouraging nonetheless.

Hey, I'm supposed to be the optimist around here! Let me latch onto something - ANYTHING - that would suggest we drafted somebody worth something in round 1!

LOL I know you are trying, white, and I really appreciate that...this board needs some optimism for sure! It ain't easy...

Reading the twitter comments from the link you posted, someone asked "What duration does peak represent? A game?", and Palazzolo replied "best pass-rush season".

So I think it's a season-long grade, which makes it even more useless - because as merc said, "there are several guys rated lower on that list that clearly played better than Harris." If I had to guess, I think they give points for getting to the QB even if the play is already over - which in fairness Harris did do a decent amount of times. Of course, by that time it's too late and it has no impact on the play...so I'm not sure that's worthy of praise.

My take is that Harris is too weak and slow to be a dominant pass rusher. But as I've said many times, I'd like to see what he can do lined up on the left side, against the right tackle. He might have more success against what are generally (but not always) less athletic and less dominant players on that side. From what I'm reading it sounds like the Phins may slide Harris into the middle (with Hayes) on obvious passing downs. That seems like a mistake to me...I think he'll get eaten up by interior linemen. But, we'll see...