Ht/Wt: 5-11/165 lbs
Position: CB
School: Oregon
Class: Junior

Cliff Harris's Player Profile

Harris came to UO touted as a playmaker and has lived up to the billing and then some by leading the Pac 10 with 6 interceptions and being the nation’s premier punt return specialist. Cliff is a corner’s corner, lots of confidence with a lot of talent to back it up that translates onto the field. He was coached in HS by former NFL DB Tim McDonald, he relishes the one on one match ups and picked off unbeaten Stanford all American Andrew Luck twice in a come from behind win. Harris lacks elite size and speed at corner but has great foot quickness, change of direction, and technique allow to win match ups when on an island with receivers. His long arms, instincts and ball skills make him a legit game changer with the ball in the air. A key piece of Oregon defense and special teams that went all the way to the National Championship.

With all the talent Harris possesses he comes with plenty of question marks. First of all with his character, he is set to serve a suspension for off field issues. His lack of bulk will lead to durability concerns. Not the fastest 40 times, he rarely gets beat in College but lack of recovery speed could be exposed in the NFL. An efficient tackler but his skills suit more of an old school defensive philosophy where you put the CBs on an island to take away receivers, today’s defensive coordinators like their CBs to be physical off the line, reroute WRs and come up and play the run which does not suite his natural ability.

I think Cliff Harris is a boom or bust candidate depending on where you draft him. He is a rare CB that can excel on an island covering WRs, and has the potential to be a guy that QBs stay away from thus taking away one side of the field, to go along with special teams ability make him considered a 1st round prospect. However, translating one on one cover skills from college to the NFL is easier said than done and if he isn’t winning one on one matchups with WRs he could quickly be relegated to a nickel down CB since his skill set does not fit the mold of the ever growing tampa 2 system. The character concerns will also have to be evaluated and could significantly hurt his draft status and if he is not helping the locker room atmosphere it will only hurt his team’s patience for playing him if he struggles making the college to pro transition. A good NFL comparison for Cliff Harris in terms of skill set would be Dre Bly, who would be a good player for him to model himself after on and off the field.
Player profile submitted by: Tom Patterson

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Cliff Harris Videos

Cliff Harris NFL Draft Analysis - 2010 Season



Cliff Harris 2010 Highlights



Cliff Harris 2009-2010 highlights Oregon



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