re: Saints rookie progress report after first quarter of 2019 season

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I’d give him a C+/B- at most.

- His first game he was responsible for -40 yards in lost yardage due to fielding kicks/punts and penalties. And his punt/kick return yards were abysmal. His kick return yards were 18 yards per return. You get the ball at the 25 if you don’t return it! (F)
- His second game he had one reception for -7 yards, but he did have 3 punt returns for 33 yards. Better, but still not good. (D)
- Third game he has a huge punt return for a TD (A+), but then he also loses the ball on a fumble (F). He finally gets his kick return numbers past 25 yards per return though. Overall (B)
- This week he had a 10 yard run on an end around. 1 kick return for 29 yards and 1 punt return for 23 yards. Good game, I wouldn’t say worthy of an A, but let’s give him one anyway. (A)

So, (F) + (D) + (B) + (A) = (C)

Not sure why you want to give him an A+. He’s fast, but the production isn’t there yet. And his PFF numbers you post don’t back this up at all.


Okay /rant

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- Against Tampa, Harris had 3 punt returns for 8 yards (2.67 yards per return). 8 yards! He also muffed a punt and fumbled. (F-)

So, (F) + (D) + (B) + (A) + (F-) = (D-)

Also, I heard Bobby Hebert on the postgame show (so take if FWIW) that Harris has issues fielding the end over end punts and ST coaches have “figured him out”. Whatever is going on, he’s got to get better on special teams. I hope CSP brings Grayson back to try him out as a returner. He did just as well in the preseason IMO. Maybe it lights a fire under Harris.

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- Against Jacksonville Harris returned 2 punts for 12 yards. He also had one kick return for 21 yards. We would have gotten the ball on the 25 if he just let it go out the end zone. He also called for a fair catch, then didn’t catch the ball, even though no one was close to him, and didn’t field the punt and let it bounce for lost yardage. (F)

So, (F) + (D) + (B) + (A) + (F-) + (F) = (F)

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- At Chicago Harris had 3 kick off returns for 54 yards (18 yards per return) with a boneheaded catch at the one (he should have fair caught it) and 5 punt returns for 46 yards (9.2 yards per return). He had a long return called back on phantom penalty. He also had a stupid over the back bobble catch he made on a punt. No impact on offense. Being generous, (C)

So, (F) + (D) + (B) + (A) + (F-) + (F) + (C) = (D-)

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- His second game he had one reception for -7 yards, but he did have 3 punt returns for 33 yards. Better, but still not good. (D)

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Not sure if you realize, but 11 yards per punt return would be the 3rd best avg in the league. How does that grade out to a D?

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- At Chicago Harris had 3 kick off returns for 54 yards (18 yards per return) with a boneheaded catch at the one (he should have fair caught it) and 5 punt returns for 46 yards (9.2 yards per return). He had a long return called back on phantom penalty. He also had a stupid over the back bobble catch he made on a punt. No impact on offense. Being generous, (C)

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If your grade on him yesterday is a C and you think that's being generous, I'd argue that you're being pretty darn disingenuous with your grades.

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Even overlooking those flaws above, he didn’t do much to make his play yesterday any better than average IMO.

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Other than that punt return TD, sure.


If he did what he did yesterday 16 games straight, we'd be a heck of a lot better off.



But you also graded 11 yards per punt return as a D, so like I said before, I don't think you understand context of punt return averages if you think an average that would be 3rd best in the league gets you graded as a D.

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He returned one for a TD only to be called back by a BS holding penalty. He would've housed another one if not for getting his helmet ripped off. But yeah, I guess any league-average return man would've done the same.

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On top of that, he blames Harris for not fair catching every kickoff or something like that, when he could just be returning based on how the coaches are asking him to do it.

Similarly, from game to game, he assumes any bad kick return is automatically his fault and should be graded as an F for him, with no regard for the possibility of frick ups on the kick coverage team's blocking.


Harris did have 1 really bad return yesterday. He also had 1 good kick return, 1 good punt return, and 1 punt return for a TD, which easily offsets a bad return, thus making a C or average grade pretty absurd.


He is also ignoring that one of the 3 kick returns was after a safety, which will typically allow for smaller return yardage based on the kick not traveling as far as a kickoff.

2 or 3 more average yards on a put return say 14 yards as an average Harris is in the Pro Bowl.

He got screwed on the call this weekend. I agree. But it doesn’t negate all the terrible things he did and it wasn’t a TD.

As for the 11 yards per return, he also muffed a kickoff return and had -7 yards on offense. D may be harsh, but not too off the mark.

Watching him return kicks is maddening. He runs directly into people sometimes. I get his “explosiveness” but it’s not translating to good play. And I’ve been calling for CSP to get a good returner for years now and I think I mad because of how much Harris screws up when we have such a thin margin of error with our QB out.

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But it doesn’t negate all the terrible things he did

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What are all the terrible things? 1 bad kick return, and?

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and it wasn’t a TD.

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So if a QB throws a perfect would be TD pass, and the WR drops it and it's an INT, then we have to factor that into how we grade the QB by saying, "well it was an INT" ??? That's a poor way to grade performance, like really poor.

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Suntiger

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This is an odd hill to die on.


Harris is improving weekly and he’s electric with the ball in his hands. He’s a threat everytime he catches the punt currently. That’s something we’ve needed for awhile.

What a bad take after yesterday. He’ll probably make the pro bowl when it’s all said and done this year.