4 ignored qualities about TE/WR Jacob Harris

Perhaps the greatest pure risk/reward action taken by the LA Rams in the entire 2021 NFL season was drafting the very raw but extremely athletic wide receiver Jacob Harris with the 141st overall pick in Round 4.  The Rams didn’t know how to categorize him. Is he a wide receiver? Is he a tight end? Heck, for that matter, was he even a need for the team?  Well, needed or not, the Rams landed one of the most gifted, but enigmatic, players in the draft.

Drafting a player with minimal experience at playing football is not something that should be attempted by the impatient nor by the faint of heart. It comes with a risk. Well, more like a host of risks that could derail the plans to elevate that prospect to NFL playing caliber.

Let’s start off by saying this: The LA Rams are not novices at drafting for ‘potential’. I went ahead and quoted that term because the term can be a great aspect for a rookie if successfully unlocked by an NFL team, but a career-ender for coaches and general managers if it’s not.

And so, there is the belief within the Rams organization that Jacob Harris has a chance to be somebody with a better than average NFL career. So the team considered different avenues to help to develop that.

Because of his height of 6-foot-5 and unpolished route running, he joined the LA Rams with the type of rookie profile to fit their tight end training camp track. But because of his weight at 211-pounds, his unfamiliarity with blocking, and the type of role he played at UCF in college, he held ar rookie profile that fit their wide receiver training camp track.

So where do we stand?