In this installment of The Recruiting Notebook, we meet a late-rising player whose film is much better than his ranking: Atlanta (GA) Riverview 3-star CB Jaden Harris.

Bio

Like I did with Nyjalik Kelly earlier, I’m gonna cheat slightly, but Harris just committed today at his NSD ceremony, and that means I just wrote and posted his Welcome to the U piece. So read that for the bio:

Recruiting Ranking

On the 247sports composite, Harris is a 3-star prospect, the #84 CB nationally, #91 in the State of Georgia, and #922 player overall in this class.

Harris committed to Miami over offers from Georgia Tech, Kansas State, and Virginia from a list of 22 scholarship offers from around the country

As A Player

Harris is well built for a corner at 6’0” 180lbs. He can continue to develop his body moving forward, but that would be more like minor tweaks, not major reconstruction. Along with his solid build, Harris has long arms (for his size) and that helps him affect passes in a wider radius than his body frame.

The first thing that you notice about Harris on film is his speed. He’s got good wheels and uses them on offense from the RB position, and on special teams as a punt and kickoff returner. He moves very well, and that will be a bonus for the Canes defense, for sure.

Additionally, Harris has fluid hips and good ball skills, both of which will be a bonus for him as he transitions to the college level and continues to develop.

An area for growth will be Harris’s tackling in run support specifically. Harris does a good job getting receivers on the ground, but will need to refine the technique with which he does so for bigger players at the RB and TE positions as well.

Strengths

• Speed
• Change of direction
• Coverage skill

Weaknesses

• Only recent high level performance
• Refinement of technique
• Tackling vs larger physical players

Miami Outlook

Note: changed this up from just a freshman-season outlook to a career outlook for each player last year and we’re continuing that style this year as well.

Harris is a nice get for the Canes, but he’s a bit of an unknown due to his meteoric rise as a senior. He has all the physical tools to be a contributor at this level if he sustains and improves the performance seen as a HS senior.

Miami has several other players at the CB position both in this class and also on the roster, and could potentially look to augment that number through the Transfer Portal as well. Those numbers at CB will hopefully allow Harris to take a slower developmental path, to ensure he’s game-ready by the time he’s pressed into action.

The variance for Harris’s career path at Miami is greater than other prospects in this class due to the shrot amount of time he’s played to a P5 level. He could just as easily be a career backup/special teams player as he could turn into a starter and key player on the Miami defense. Heading into his career, I think it’s safe to say any conference recognition would be a welcomed boon based on his performance on the field in his time at Miami.

That’s it for this installment of The Recruiting Notebook.

Go Canes