Inner-Vision
One thing that people consistently underestimate with McCaffrey is his vision, as by being able to read running lanes effectively and quickly, he is able to make the very most out of his blocking on every snap. The same is true for Harris, as he consistently made good decisions allowing him to churn out inside rushing yardage even when his blocking wasn’t amazing. Of course, vision is best exhibited on the plays where a running back spots a crease, hits it and goes:
But the value of a player like Harris is that this vision allows him to consistently pick up solid yardage with the long plays coming as a bonus. This is possibly the biggest improvement that McCaffrey made from year one to year two, as he prioritized getting decent yardage quickly rather than waiting for the big hole to emerge; this is what Harris already does. This is what turns two yard carries into six yard ones:
And TFLs into four yard gains:
It is genuinely very difficult to show the value of this in just a few plays, as the key is what you don’t see when watching Harris. While his blocking certainly helped, it is very telling that the following play is the only one in the four games that I watched where he got tackled for a loss:
The following play is perhaps the best example of this value in a single play:
In the above, Harris notices the linebackers overcommitting to stop the outside run and so bounces the run inside; once he then sees that the nickel has come inside to take away the quarterback option, rather than trying to bounce it outside, he takes the yardage that is given to him and cuts upfield for a solid three yard gain. If the quarterback or the tight end are able to get anything close to a block done, this play goes for longer, but rather than being tempted by the chance of a long gain, Harris keeps the chains moving.
It is hard to express quite how valuable this can be, as it allows teams to keep the chains moving and allow for those downhill shots that Alabama loved so much. Zeke Elliott is the prime example of how valuable this running style is, as his longest carry last season was 41 yards, yet by still being able to average 4.7 yards per carry on over 300 carries he was the focal point of the Cowboys offense from a schematic point of view. Harris isn’t Zeke, but the value of his ability to gain consistent inside yardage is undeniable.
Up Next: Breaking Tackles & The Passing Game
