 |
| My favorite photo of Montel Harris as a Temple Owl, sharing a moment of respect with Army linebacker and captain Nate Coombs after going for 351 yards and seven touchdowns in a 63-32 win. |
After the Army game, both Montel and Army linebacker Nate Coombs shared a few words after Temple's 63-32 win at Michie Stadium.
 |
| Draft expert Matt Waldman was talking about Harris. |
After it was over, Montel and Nate shook hands, laughed and walked off the field.
That's what sports is all about. It was a great sportsmanship moment between a future NFL player and a guy who is going to put it all on the line for our country.
We can only imagine what Nate told Montel, but we can guess it went something like this:
"Man, I tried to tackle you, but it was like tackling air out there."
After a fairly good performance in the recent NFL combine, draft expert Matt Waldman called Montel "the best running back nobody is talking about."
 |
| The thing the combine can't measure is start/stop ability and Harris is the best I've ever seen |
I think they will be talking about him on draft day.
Last year, I predicted Bernard Pierce would go in the third round. I think Harris goes in the sixth, no lower than the seventh.
How Harris and Pierce compared at the NFL combine:
40 time | Bench Reps | Vertical Jump | |
Montel Harris | 4.68 | 19 (at 225 pounds) | 32.5 inches |
Bernard Pierce | 4.49 | 17 (at 225 pounds) | 36.5 inches |
How Harris and Pierce did in best single season:
Carries | Yards | Longest Run | |
Montel Harris (2009) | 308 | 1,457 | 72 yards |
Bernard Pierce (2011) | 273 | 1,481 | 69 yards |
After watching Harris last year and Pierce the three years before that, the difference is simply this:
Pierce is faster and can do more damage on the outside but Harris is much better between tackles and starting and stopping to get out of trouble.
The only reason Harris drops three or so rounds below Pierce will be his knee injury history, but his knee held up pretty well at Temple despite the workload.
To me, the combine numbers are nowhere near as important as these numbers:
Career Carries | Career Yards | Average (2012) | Career Long | Career TDs | |
Montel Harris | 973 | 4,379 | 5.7 | 72 | 39 |
Le’Veon Bell | 671 | 3,346 | 4.7 | 69 | 31 |
Montee Ball | 924 | 5,140 | 5.1 | 67 | 77 |
Ray Graham | 595 | 3,271 | 4.1 | 78 | 32 |
Gio Bernard | 423 | 2,481 | 6.7 | 68 | 25 |
Jawan Jamison | 486 | 1,972 | 4.2 | 64 | 13 |
To me, what you do on the field is a lot more important than what you can do at the combine and Harris' numbers stack up very well against some of the top running backs in the group above.
Remember, Harris never fumbles while Eagles' seventh-round pick Bryce Brown fumbled a lot. You can gain all the yards in the world and have all the speed and the vertical leap and bench press, but if the ball ends up in the hands of the other team after the play is over you are worthless.
How cool would it be for Montel Harris to introduce himself on Sunday or Monday night football by saying, "Montel Harris, Temple Football Forever"
That's another metric that can't be measured at a combine.How cool would it be for Montel Harris to introduce himself on Sunday or Monday night football by saying, "Montel Harris, Temple Football Forever."
Heck, if Mo Wilkerson or Bernard Pierce beat him to the punch, that would be cool, too.
Whatever questions that some may have had about his character were answered with a season as a solid citizen and terrific teammate at Temple.
I wish him all the best.
My guess is that Army's Nate Coombs does, too.
