2022 NFL Draft Profile: Interior Linebacker Christian Harris

The one thing that everyone forgets about the product of Baton Rouge is that he's only been playing linebacker for three years.

Remember the hype in Tuscaloosa about how the future at linebacker was so strong because Alabama had added Christian Harris and Dylan Moses, who had grown up together in Baton Rouge?

Things didn't quite go as expected for Moses, who went undrafted last year and was released last week by the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

In contrast, Harris finished his Crimson Tide career on an upswing, maybe playing his best game yet in the national championship against Georgia. He tied for the team lead in tackles with seven, including a game-high and career-best 4.0 for a loss and three sacks, plus also forced a fumble.

Overall, he was only fifth in team tackles with 79, but had 12.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.

Harris was a three-year starter, but those were also his first three years playing linebacker. He had played in the secondary and wide receiver in high school. 

“I was playing corner from ninth grade to twelfth grade and in my little league years, I was playing safety, so knowing where to put my eyes and how to play the ball comes naturally to me," he said. "I think that gives me an advantage over a lot of guys; I just have to transition that into focusing on how to read keys and blocks."

Harris was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team after tallying 63 tackles, 7.5 for a loss. He played through a shoulder injury during the team's run to the 2020 national championship, when he had 79 tackles including seven for loss with 4.5 sacks, and intercepted a pass over 13 games. 

Measurements

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Height: 6^1/2
Weight: 226
Hand: 9^5/8
Arm: 32^1/8
Wingspan: 76^3/4

Combine/Pro Day

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

40-Yard Dash: 4.44 (second-fastest among linebackers)

Vertical Jump 34.5

Broad Jump 132

Pros

RobertScheer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Very good athlete accelerates and reaches his good speed quickly making him rangy at the second level. Harris is a communicator on Alabama’s defense, getting teammates lined up and calling out audibles. He is a patient run defender who can scrape and flow fairly reliably. Once he triggers his explosiveness to the ball carrier is apparent. Stacking blocks with his length, he places his hands well and has plenty of functional strength to hold up against bigger opponents. Harris flashes violent hands and upper body strength to disengage. He has his hands ready to take on blocks at all times. His pursuit angles are conservative but get the job done. In coverage, he is very springy and fluid, possessing all the movement skills to succeed in zone or man coverage on tight ends. When blitzing, he is a consistent threat thanks to his burst. Solid open-field tackler.

Cons

Alabama Athletics

Inconsistent eyes lead to a lack of splash plays in the backfield. Harris can overrun angles when flowing laterally, allowing for cutback lanes. He is not a reliable tackler, getting juked out due to a lack of twitch and often coming in too high. In zone, he does not have the desired instincts, struggling to locate routes behind him and playing with bad spacing at times. Dynamic opponents separate at the top of routes from his man coverage. Blitz timing can be late.

NFL Draft Bible Assessment

Alabama Athletics

Athletically gifted linebacker with explosiveness and length. Harris is a modern-day player able to run cover and blitz. He has the physical traits and leadership qualities coveted. As a tackler, he is not reliable and in space, he lacks desired instincts to be a difference-maker. Harris projects as a future starting inside linebacker, ideally at WILL to take advantage of his movement skills. He has the tools to be special in the future. — Lorenz Leinweber

BamaCentral Analysis

Alabama Athletics

We figured that Harris would grow on NFL teams once they saw him firsthand at the combine, etc., and that's exactly what happened. The game is getting faster and having his kind of speed at linebacker appeals to a lot coaches and evaluators. Some NFL teams might consider moving him to the outside, but our belief is that the best role for him will be in a 3-4 scheme with a strong middle linebacker whom he can play off of and learn from.  

Quote

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

"He's less instinctive and less physical than I'm used to seeing from an Alabama linebacker." — Personnel director for NFC team to NFL.com 

Projection

Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Sports

Second round

Draft Day 1

• What: Round 1
• When: Thursday, April 28
• Time: 7 p.m. CT
• TV: NFL Network, ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes (es)
• Mobile and CTV: NFL, ESPN
• Web: NFL.com, ABC.go.com, ESPN.com

Draft Day 2

• What: Rounds 2-3
• When: Friday, April 29
• Time: 6 p.m.
• TV: NFL Network, ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes (es)
• Mobile and CTV: NFL, ESPN
• Web: NFL.com, ABC.go.com, ESPN.com

Draft Day 3

• What: Rounds 4-7
• When: Saturday, April 30
• Time: 11 a.m.
• TV: NFL Network, ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes (es)
• Mobile and CTV: NFL, ESPN
• Web: NFL.com, ABC.go.com, ESPN.com

BamaCentral will profile each of the former Crimson Tide players expected to be selected in the 2022 NFL Draft. This is the fourth story in the series:

Christopher Allen

Jalyn Armour-Davis 

Slade Bolden