Don’t discount LA Rams 3 UDFA defensive backs

Turning the corner

DB Brontae Harris is a 5-foot-10 190-pound bonafide cornerback from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  Unlike other prospects, his draft profile describes him in ways that suggest that he is a  player with physical characteristics that will limit his use to the secondary and not to special teams. Okay, so he is a defense only. Got it.

But his LA Rams roster listing posts him at the same size as his college stats, a 5-foot-10 190-pound player, just one inch shorter and seven pounds heavier than outbound Troy Hill. So I’m not sold on the ‘he’s too small to play’ narrative.

He played three seasons but missed the entire 2019 season due to a foot injury that required surgery. He returned in 2020 to have another excellent performance. In 28 games, he recorded 76 tackles, eight tackles for a loss, one quarterback sack, four interceptions with one pick-six, and 16 pass defenses.  In 2020, he helped lead the pass defense that only gave up 158 passing yards to Miami in the season opener.

He has a solid basketball background to combine with football, and he used that with remarkable effect. Coming into his junior season, Harris had been a consistent defender on the outside and, according to Pro Football Focus, was the highest-graded corner in CUSA last season (2018) allowing a 22.2 passer rating when targeted on third and fourth down while forcing 11 pass breakups and corralling two interceptions.

He was challenged by his head coach to be vocal and lead the secondary in 2020, a challenged he met many times over. His 2020 season found him less targetted as teams attacked other areas of the defense. But through it all, he assumed a leader’s role with the secondary, and no doubt attracted the LA Rams to sign him up.