DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Desmond Harrison

Agreed. Some good, some bad, and a pretty good 1st start for a rookie - particularly a raw, UDFA who is all upside.

He had a few early penalties but settled down and played some good football. Far from a perfect debut, but I thought it was really encouraging. He held his own, won plenty of plays and made a couple of big blocks.

I'm happy enough with his performance.

He's got a potentially LONG school year.

Might have a few things to work on. Mastered penalties. This will take awhile.

If he could be consistent at things he did good, it'd be rather great. All the penalties were hurtful to see.

I can forgive some of the mental mistakes from a rookie thrown in his first game against that team and the guys he was to block. I thought he played a decent game the 2nd half....if I was gonna start getting really concerned I would start with the RT/TE's who even when double teaming Watt couldn't stop the guy. I found that way more concerning than our UDFA LT in his first NFL game against the Steelers.

Harrison had an up-and-down game. Some dumb penalties. Got beat a few times. Did a good job w/his feet to steer guys beyond the pocket. Displayed speed and athleticism.

The Steelers do have a good pass rush and it was on display today. I can't gush or cuss about Harrison. He struggled at times, but did some good things, too.

Any chance you can break his play down for us if u have the time? ...

I’d like some specifics about what u liked and didn’t ...

Thanks either way sir ...

No.

Give me a few games. The damn camera angles make it hard to evaluate. I saw some things, but not enough to offer an evaluation that I was confident in. Give me a few games to put the bits and pieces together and then I will expound.

he looked good at times..he has a chance to be good.

my fav harrison play when he circled around and creamed a rusher. some number 45 maybe...

And probably should have gotten a penalty. . .

call me politically incorrect but i wanna see a browns olineman crush a steeler

See VICE GRIPS ...

I didn't say I didn't like it. Just that it was probably a penalty.

His feet were excellent.....athletic as advertised. It was either you or Pit who talked about him needing to gain weight and more importantly strength and I saw that as well. He got pushed back into the pocket several times. You guys can correct me if I'm wrong, but I never saw him get beat with a speed move or by him being slow to get out of his stance......he just got pushed around a good bit from what I recall.

Overall he was as you said up and down, but the potential is there no doubt.

There were a couple of times where he was slow getting out of his stance. He's got some things to work on.

Thought he showed very good feet and got muscled several times. The penalties are not horrible and growing pains. For a last minute add, he did a solid job IMO; it was Blitzberg, after all. I must lower my optimism. Bitonio was not able to help as much as I thought he might be. Bitonio really got owned a few times, was his the FG block? But two things seem to be true: A) We have a lot to work on on; B) we have something to work with. Won't be quick or pretty, but it can pay dividends this season.

His athleticism is noticeable ... he's very good with his feet, which is tough to coach. He can steer DEs behind the passer and open up lanes ... and he can RUN.

But, his pass blocking was not good (notice how we ran to the right when we had success in the 3rd quarter)

Completely agree. I think with some time and more reps to gel, he is looking like he will be able to at least hold the fort down for us.

The penalties were frustrating, but his actual play on the field was solid given his history. Taking a final exam (playing the steelers) on his first day of school (first career game), I came away optimistic.

Agreed... this was a tough test for a rookie. The Steelers were the perfect test to see how this young man can hold up. The Yinzers brought it from the edge and he held up pretty well for his first NFL game. I can wait to see how he improves this season.

Every week is another day of school for the young man.

I think at minimum he proved he can play at this level. How he takes to coaching and his ability to get stronger will determine how impactful he is. I read he used to be 305 and dropped down to 279 and is playing at 290 ish now...i think he'll get back there, and that should help him as long as its done while increasing strength as well.

Shoulder to the guy's chest. No chance was it a penalty.

Anyone else notice that stance with both arms propped on one knee? I wonder where he got that from?

He suffered from the typical rookie mind farts and just doesn't have enough keister to anchor the bull rush well yet. His kick step is fantastic though and he plays with a mean streak. His run blocking was pretty poor, but I could say the same for most of our line that game. I'm hoping that isn't going to be a trend this year.

j/c

The assessments of where he has to improve are all fair ones. He has potential but still has a lot to learn.

A concern I have which I don't think has been mentioned is that he seems late with this punch on some plays. He appears to wait to "catch" the advancing DL instead of redirecting him with his punch.

Does anybody else have a similar concern?

I think it's more complicated of a rule than that. There is also language about the block occurring away from the play and a few other factors. I don't have the exact language in front of me.

It was borderline. Personally, I loved it! Send a little message to the yinzers who have been giving us cheap shots for years without penalty.

it wasn't away from the play, the guy was in pursuit, Harrison beat him to the spot and blocked upfield...it was beautiful.

I heard them on the TV saying it was probably a penalty. I don't know why or how that can be a penalty - everything about it looked 100% correct and legal to me.

Hue likes him, or at least sees him as the best option, so he plays.


I think he has some talent.


He looks the part and has good feet.


Face it folks, you don't replace Joe with anyone who is nearly as good. Especially the next year. A Joe T type LT come around every 20 years or so, and then you have to be in a position to draft him.

We may not actually replace Joe for 40 years.

Understand that.

I'm not positive, but I think this was more of him being a bit slow out of his stance at times. He's struggling w/technique a bit. If you noticed, he also got penalized for being off the LOS. That probably resulted because he is slow out of his stance.

Dude is a good athlete, so I think that will be corrected over time.

Trent Green said the same thing about that penalty: DH was cheating a bit to get more time.

Green was really good I thought.

Just hire Joe as a consultant to come in and work with him on everything from technique to being an adult to fishing/hunting to being a pro and watching film.

Educate him.
Humble him.
Teach him.
Coach him.

Man, that would be great if Joe would start working w/Harrison. No one was a better technician than Joe.

Joe spent a lot of time in camp but I think he's not keen on being around the game at the moment. Personally, I think it's because he didn't want to retire. The mind is strong but the body is not. Being around too much would probably be hard on him.

On top of that, he's been massively successful off the field with media and podcasting. I think he's currently keen on setting himself up long-term with that.

I'd say he'll be around plenty, especially if Harrison reaches out: I think we know Joe well enough to guess that for everyone in that room, he's got a "You have my number and can call whenever" policy.

Did JT move the family back to Wisconsin?

Yes.