Prospect Bio

At Bradwell Institute in Hinesville, Georgia, Kevin Harris rushed for 1,556 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior. He was a three-star recruit but received few offers. Harris committed to South Carolina where he made an impression in his very first game. Against Charleston Southern, Harris rushed six times for 147 yards and three touchdowns. Despite this performance, he was stuck in a backup role, finishing his freshman campaign with 179 rushing yards and four touchdowns on just 21 attempts. It was a much different story in 2020. As a sophomore, Harris took charge of the backfield and led the SEC in rushing with 1,138 yards and 15 touchdowns on 185 attempts. He started all 12 games and topped 200 yards against LSU and Kentucky. Harris added 159 yards and another score on 21 receptions. He was awarded second-team All-SEC honors.

During the offseason, Harris had surgery on his back which may have contributed to a step backwards in his 2021 production. While sharing the backfield with Zaquandre White, Harris rushed 152 times for a team-leading 658 yards and four touchdowns. He caught seven passes for an additional 89 yards. 

College Stats

Kevin Harris College Stats Courtesy of sports-reference

Positives

+Size

+Good vision

+Power

+Ball security; One fumble in 358 carries 

+89th-percentile Burst Score (PlayerProfiler.com)

+1.95 best-season yards per team play (2020)

+12% best-season reception share (2020)

+55.1% best-season touchdown share (2020)

Negatives

-Had offseason back surgery after 2020

-Hands; 14.6% career drop rate

-Pass protection

Highlight Reel

Comparable Player: Carlos Hyde

NFL Draft Projection: Sixth/Seventh Round

Yards Per-Formance Grade: 57.1

Bottom Line:

Kevin Harris had an extremely productive sophomore season before his offseason back surgery. He showed he can be a workhorse running back that dominates in between the tackles and in short-yardage situations. While his passing downs game needs some work, Harris projects as a two-down bruiser at the next level. He’s big and powerful and has enough juice to break off chunk plays from time to time.

Post Draft Analysis:

Kevin Harris begins his NFL career buried on a Patriots depth chart that includes Damien Harris, Rhamondre Stevenson, James White, Pierre Strong, and JJ Taylor. Unless something changes, Harris is going to need multiple injuries ahead of him to find the field anytime soon.

Yards Per-Formance Prospect Grade

Resources: DLF, PlayerProfiler, PFN, PFF, TDN