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Desmond Harrison has a chance to fulfill the sky high expectations that accompanied him when he arrived at Texas in 2013.
Harrison spent his first two seasons playing at a junior college before transferring to the Longhorns. However, after a appearing in a few games his first season on campus, he missed his second season due to being suspended twice. He was no longer apart of Texas’ plans the following season.
He reappeared at West Georgia for their 2017 season with his final year of eligibility, and he showed his athleticism. Now, he is hoping to finally prove everyone who believed in him right.
Profile
School: West Georgia/Texas
Position: Offensive tackle
Height: 6’6
Weight: 288 pounds
Projected Round: Fourth or fifth round
NFL comparison: Lane Johnson
Highlights
Analysis
Harrison clearly dominated lesser talent at West Georgia, which will make it hard for teams to truly evaluate him. Really, the biggest things people need to know is whether they can trust him, and if he can actually maintain some sort of weight. Right now he is far too light, and any pass rusher in the NFL will be able to plow him right out of the way.
He also needs a ton of work from a technical standpoint. He relied so much on just being bigger, stronger and faster than everyone at West Georgia that he showed a lot of bad habits. That will get him in a lot of trouble at the next level.
The bright side is he still shows those flashes that gets you excited about the player people thought he could be. He is quick on his feet, and he shows a good punch. Combine that with his great frame that could use some weight added to it an you could end up with a quality tackle in the NFL.
How he fits with the Bengals
Hopefully, this is in combination with drafting a tackle as well as bringing in at least one free agency option, but if the team isn’t relying on him for a couple of seasons, it could be perfect. Right now, the Bengals are strapped with picks, and they could put him on the practice squad for a couple of seasons.
The point is he needs to add weight, and he has so much to clean up. Still, he could be the perfect project player of Frank Pollack to work on.
As long as the Bengals are getting him with a third day pick it’ll be a great pick. A low risk, but he could end up paying huge dividends if he develops like experts think he has the chance to.
If he doesn’t, then it isn’t a huge deal. It obviously isn’t the ideal pick for a team that needs their picks to have an instant impact next season, but there won’t be many of those players left on the third day.