Broncos' CB Davontae Harris is Earning Praise from Coaches & Players Alike

Coming out of his first training camp, Davontae Harris has established some true momentum and is garnering praise across the board.

Over the last few practice sessions, the Denver Broncos' defense has started to show its teeth to its offensive counterpart. The defense's hunger to prove itself in a competitive environment is exemplified by cornerback Davontae Harris, who is making up for lost time.

After sitting and waiting through an inordinately long offseason, Harris is striking while the iron is hot. 

“We waited seven months for this, I could do this for another two or three months,” Harris said to Ryan Edwards and Benjamin Allbright on KOARadio's Broncos Country Tonight show. “During the offseason, we weren’t sure they’d be an opportunity. I’m sure guys are tired, but we’re all aware that football could be taken away from us. As long as we’ve got an opportunity to compete, that’s what we’re going to do.”

In his first training camp as a Bronco, the 25-year-old has been pitched in a hot battle for the No. 3 cornerback job with De’Vante Bausby and Isaac Yiadom. Harris has fully embraced the open competition because he feels everyone involved is getting a fair shake of the tree to win out.

“I think it’s easy when there are a lot of good guys around you. You want good for good people,” Harris told Edwards and Allbright. “We all want a spot here, but as long as we all have the same information, same drive, we just want the best guys here. The best guy wins, but whatever happens, they’re going to be my guys whether here or not.”

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Throughout last season, ex-Broncos' cornerback Chris Harris, Jr. acted as an on-field coach and mentor to the young Harris, and now A.J. Bouye has taken up that mantle to impart to the youngster his NFL knowledge.

“Davontae—one thing I respect about Davontae—he comes to me on an individual basis and just tries to learn everything, whether it’s what I’ve seen from him or what he’s sees from me," Bouye said on Tuesday. "Before I came in here, he pulled me aside after practice to get some press work in. You can really appreciate that from someone like him, who no matter if they made the team or not, they’re always willing to work, day in and day out.”

Simply winning a roster spot is one thing, but earning significant playing time as the third corner role is something that is within the grasp of the former fifth-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals. One positive is that head coach Vic Fangio has noted are the strides forward Harris is making in picking up the defensive scheme.

“By no means has he mastered it, but he has made a step here in the last ten days of improving his play, a lot of little things,” Fangio observed.

Even harkening back to the Super Bowl 50 glory days, the importance of having a viable third cornerback who can hold his own is huge. Harris confidently believes that the new-look Broncos' secondary doesn’t need a catchy nickname like its illustrious predecessors the ‘No Fly Zone.’

“We don’t need a nickname, we just need an image,” Harris told KOA. “An image that teams are going to have a hard time putting the ball in the air so they better keep it on the ground.”

Harris arrived in Denver via the waiver wire on the doorstep of last year's regular-season opener. He would go on to start six games in the middle of the season, where he posted 35 tackles (30 solo) and broke up three passes. 

Harris' time as a starter was short-lived, however, as he was eventually usurped by the same corner who he leapfrogged earlier in the season in Yiadom. But with a full year in the scheme and a training camp to boot, it'll be interesting to see how Harris manages in his second season a Bronco. 

Follow Keith on Twitter @KeithC_NFL and @MileHighHuddle.