Round 3, Pick 76

Nick Harris, C, Washington

Height: 6-1

Weight: 302

Class: Senior

D.O.B.: N/A

Statistical Profile: Harris started 42 games and played in 50 during his four years at Washington. Harris was all-conference first team as a junior and senior at Washington, both of the years he spent at center for the Huskies. Before that he danced between right and left guard, starting 15 at the former spot and two at the latter.

Scouting Harris: Evaluating Harris isn’t difficult; his strengths and weaknesses are pretty clear on tape. A small center with short arms and what NFL teams have termed a “bad body,” Harris sure doesn’t look the part of a pro prospect on the hoof.

But what he lacked in strength and size at the college level he made up for in quickness, toughness, football IQ and enough technique. Harris put on a reach block clinic in the PAC-12, winning with clean footwork, lateral quickness and deft hand placement. Also, a ton of fight on every single snap.

I don’t know how to describe Harris’ game except a guy that looks like he’s going to lose early in a lot of reps and then he somehow just … doesn’t. He constantly grapples with defenders to gain optimal positioning, surprising them with how well he sustains despite lacking ideal physical traits, especially at the second level. Not many collegiate centers can work in space, hit their targets and create movement like Harris can.

As irritating as Harris must be to play against, there are still times where he is just totally physically overwhelmed in the trenches. It is critical that he find a home in a zone-heavy scheme in the NFL, as he won’t create displacement and will get worked over in a vertical blocking run game. Bigger, longer defenders that could match Harris’ technique just overpowered him on tape, an issue that will absolutely continue in the NFL.

In pass protection, Harris showed a good anchor and well-placed, leveraged hands the majority of the time, sitting down against PAC-12 bull rushers who failed to work pass rush moves. Whenever Harris was challenged as a pass protector however, flaws were revealed, as he showed an inability to recover from a quick stab, long arm or swim move out of the gate.

Most of the time he held his own against simple bull rushes, but players like Auburn’s Derrick Brown in 2018 had their way with him even in those power rush situations. The PAC-12 doesn’t have many interior defensive linemen who have any clue what they are doing as pass rushers, so the Senior Bowl was a big stage for Harris, and he was seamlessly taken apart by multiple players during the week of practice. Pass protection is a concern at the next level, but Harris will fight like crazy to mirror defenders, and he’s always looking for work when uncovered.

Maybe the best way to describe Nick Harris is that he has an undraftable body/frame, Day 3 power, Day 2 athleticism and technique and a first-round mentality and football IQ. His scheme fit is so specific to a wide zone offense that there will be a shortage of teams interested in acquiring his services in the draft. That alone should push his stock into Day 3 three, but for the right team, Harris might have enough intangibles and technique to survive in a run-heavy offense, despite always having some limitations in pass protection.

Bucs Fit: Harris has several traits that the Bucs are desperately trying to instill in their offensive line, including physicality, technique and a nasty edge to his play. They’d also love to find a future starter at center in this class, as they can get out of Ryan Jensen’s contract next offseason, and it’s unlikely they’d want to pay another offensive linemen over $10 million for another season.

The problem is that the Bucs are not an outside zone run scheme, and that is by far Harris’ best chance to succeed in the NFL. Arians has also always run pass-heavy offenses with longer-developing routes, leaving offensive linemen isolated in pass protection a bit longer. That’s not Harris’ cup of tea either.

I can’t rule out them overlooking the scheme fit issues in order to get tougher and smarter at the center position, but that would be a mistake. As easy as it is to fall in love with the grit and scrappiness of Harris’ game, there are only a few teams that he could peak with, and Tampa Bay really isn’t one of them. If the Bucs do take him, he really needs to hit the weight room to increase his strength and power.