Cam Harris...summed up in one play

terdferguson

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Late in the first half, Harris took a pitch to the right. One defender being blocked and nothing but green grass for as far as the eye can see......

camharris.jpg


This run ends up being a 4 yard gain. To ***** this up is almost unfathomable. It's hard to imagine even the most pedestrian rb only gaining 4 yards here. If you have any instincts, cutting ability, speed, power, vision.....any of that stuff, this is a big gainer. Imagine if Portis, McGahee, Duke, or even a guy like DeeJay Dallas had taken this carry and what the result what have been.

We should ALWAYS have a difference maker at the rb position. There are lot of rbs out there who can do damage either via speed or power or vision etc. And plenty of guys that want to come here. That we have a guy this ordinary as our starting rb is just mind boggling to me. Harris doesn't have any of the traits you want in a great rb. None of them.
 
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this screencap tells me nothing. entirely within the realm of possibility that the DB gets past the WR's block in the next instant, slows up the RB, and gives enough time for the DL/LBs at the top of the screen to come and clean up. maybe cam screwed up this play and maybe he didn't but that one shot is meaningless.
 
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this screencap tells me nothing. entirely within the realm of possibility that the DB gets past the WR's block in the next instant, slows up the RB, and gives enough time for the DL/LBs at the top of the screen to come and clean up. maybe cam screwed up this play and maybe he didn't but that one shot is meaningless.
Show the full clip in REAL TIME. That hole most likely closed quickly, and unlike Miami, Alabama actually tackles well.
 
Late in the first half, Harris took a pitch to the right. One defender being blocked and nothing but green grass for as far as the eye can see......

View attachment 153616

This run ends up being a 4 yard gain. To ***** this up is almost unfathomable. It's hard to imagine even the most pedestrian rb only gaining 4 yards here. If you have any instincts, cutting ability, speed, power, vision.....any of that stuff, this is a big gainer. Imagine if Portis, McGahee, Duke, or even a guy like DeeJay Dallas had taken this carry and what the result what have been.

We should ALWAYS have a difference maker at the rb position. There are lot of rbs out there who can do damage either via speed or power or vision etc. And plenty of guys that want to come here. That we have a guy this ordinary as our starting rb is just mind boggling to me. Harris doesn't have any of the traits you want in a great rb. None of them.

You're not wrong.

Cam can hit 22mph, but the muscle hamster cannot wiggle or see the next 5 yards to save his life.

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What's makes this all the more infuriating is we have the talent. It's Don Chaney, Knighton, and Cody Brown (hoss in the making).

The angle and vision described in your OP is just daggum ridiculous. I can't defend that one bit; can't take pride in it.
 
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You're not wrong.

Cam can hit 22mph, but the muscle hamster cannot wiggle or see the next 5 yards to save his life.

------------------


What's makes this all the more infuriating is we have the talent. It's Don Chaney, Knighton, and Cody Brown (hoss in the making).

The angle and vision described in your OP is just daggum ridiculous. I can't defend that one bit; can't take pride in it.
Muscle Hamster😂😂😂😂😂
 
this screencap tells me nothing. entirely within the realm of possibility that the DB gets past the WR's block in the next instant, slows up the RB, and gives enough time for the DL/LBs at the top of the screen to come and clean up. maybe cam screwed up this play and maybe he didn't but that one shot is meaningless.
You are correct, but unfortunately so is the OP. Play is at 107:20.




In defense of Cam I believe he was trying to get out of bounds, though I can’t for the life of me understand why. A first down stops the clock. (Also, this entire series was glacially slow and made me want to scream).

BFDF3C01-E2EC-4607-9D7C-E004606B8264.jpeg


Jobe does get off his block, however Cam sees it in plenty of time and still gets taken out with a weak dive at his ankles.

D7970294-058B-4791-AB40-7B1DF7DC0E92.jpeg


I’ve thought about this play a lot actually, because I basically gave up on Cam ever being more than a back who occasionally uses his speed to break away. Several of us had this discussion prior to the game: he does not need to be anywhere near this big. He runs top heavy and goes down extremely easily, especially in situations like this where he simply needs to sidestep a defender who is out of position. Ive watched the play about a half a dozen times and I genuinely don’t think Cam could physically stop or slow down enough to make Jobe miss. I don’t know if it’s because he’s too tight, he just falls over, or if he simply didn’t anticipate the tackle.

This was the exact play that ended my last hope for Cam as a quality back. He runs so soft and makes himself easy to tackle. His lack of anticipation and ability to adjust to defenders is more than just a vision problem, imo, and while his top end speed is great, he doesn’t have any real burst getting up to speed, so he rarely gets behind or surprises defenders.
 
I just want to mention if he cuts upfield, then there's no doubt whatsoever that Christian Harris tackles him as well. I think he made the correct decision by going wide, but there's no way he should have let Jobe tackle him.
 
Harris is a good player who gets killed because of what he isn’t. He’s not an everydown, Canes-caliber back. He doesn’t have that balance or wiggle. But he has top-tier long speed, he can catch and he’s tough.

Don’t get me wrong, Chaney is the best back. But Harris still had the best numbers last year. He doesn’t suck.
 
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Cam has good top end speed but he doesn't have great vision and doesn't get upfield as fast as Chaney. Against elite teams, Cam gets stopped in his tracks too often. He started dancing laterally because of that. That's never going to work against a team as fast as Alabama.

Chaney has great vision, great instincts and is much faster hitting holes. The coaches totally blew it starting Cam over Chaney in this game.

Cam will be effective against most of the rest of our opponents (and I respect his work ethic etc) but Chaney should have started this game. Huge blunder by the coaches on that decision (as there were way too many wasted downs and it put all the pressure on the passing game...and Bama knew they didn't need to fear our run game). But, the coaches liked the approach so much that they did it again and again and again. Why?
 
Late in the first half, Harris took a pitch to the right. One defender being blocked and nothing but green grass for as far as the eye can see......

View attachment 153616

This run ends up being a 4 yard gain. To ***** this up is almost unfathomable. It's hard to imagine even the most pedestrian rb only gaining 4 yards here. If you have any instincts, cutting ability, speed, power, vision.....any of that stuff, this is a big gainer. Imagine if Portis, McGahee, Duke, or even a guy like DeeJay Dallas had taken this carry and what the result what have been.

We should ALWAYS have a difference maker at the rb position. There are lot of rbs out there who can do damage either via speed or power or vision etc. And plenty of guys that want to come here. That we have a guy this ordinary as our starting rb is just mind boggling to me. Harris doesn't have any of the traits you want in a great rb. None of them.
1. I do prefer Chaney over Cam but

2. You aren’t telling the whole story. I just went back and watched that play on YouTube tv library. First, Cam wanted to go out of bounds to stop the clock instead of cutting up field and stay in bounds. Why? Because he’s not a heady player. Miami had timeouts AND clock stops on a first down. Secondly, after rewatching that play, both Donaldson and Harley missed blocks. Harley got overpowered by his man and Donaldson completely whiffed on blocked Christian Harris (#8). Harris would have tackled Cam after a 5 yard gain. Cam wasn’t going far.

but should have Cam cut up field? Yes. He would have been tackled by Christian Harris but it still was the right decision to make.

3. I have included still-frames of Donaldson’s miss block and how I believe Harris (#8) would have tackled Cam after a meager gain (but certainly past the first down marker)…

and a still-frame of the play before the ball was snapped. Here’s my question: why didn’t King go towards the trips at the top of the screen? It’s man-to-man with a sin broke high safety. Looks like $$ to me.
 
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1. I do prefer Chaney over Cam but

2. You aren’t telling the whole story. I just went back and watched that play on YouTube tv library. First, Cam wanted to go out of bounds to stop the clock instead of cutting up field and stay in bounds. Why? Because he’s not a heady player. Miami had timeouts AND clock stops on a first down. Secondly, after rewatching that play, both Donaldson and Harley missed blocks. Harley got overpowered by his man and Donaldson completely whiffed on blocked Christian Harris (#8). Harris would have tackled Cam after a 5 yard gain. Cam wasn’t going far.

but should have Cam cut up field? Yes. He would have been tackled by Christian Harris but it still was the right decision to make.

3. I have included still-frames of Donaldson’s miss block and how I believe Harris (#8) would have tackled Cam after a meager gain (but certainly past the first down marker)…

and a still-frame of the play before the ball was snapped. Here’s my question: why didn’t King go towards the trips at the top of the screen? It’s man-to-man with a sin broke high safety. Looks like $$ to me.
Dang, file too large. Go back and look at that play and the formation again.
 
This was the exact play that ended my last hope for Cam as a quality back. He runs so soft and makes himself easy to tackle. His lack of anticipation and ability to adjust to defenders is more than just a vision problem, imo, and while his top end speed is great, he doesn’t have any real burst getting up to speed, so he rarely gets behind or surprises defenders.
Yup
 
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