Here’s Leoram…
Let's look beyond the offseason hype for a minute please. Last year we heard how advanced Jefferson was and this year he admits his head was spinning all year, learning from mistakes. And he is the son of an NFL lifer--WR and Coach. Jefferson was raised in the game and still took a year to grasp the playbook.
Gerald Everett is instructive here. He was drafted early by this regime and even he was talking about how he and Higbee could become the best TE duo in the league. He even flashed several awesome plays with his athleticism. But he rarely saw the field as he would never be a better blocker than Higs, never a better receiving option than Kupp (thus the overuse of 11 personnel), and truth be told...he never absorbed the playbook to McVay's standards so he was limited to the few plays he could grasp where he was schemed for success. That's why he wasn't re signed.
With that said, Harris is an interesting case. His role this year will primarily be on ST and we can all appreciate the need for that group to improve. Mundt will likely be that second blocking TE when the run is paramount to success for the offense. Harris simply lacks the bulk and experience to be an effective inline blocker at this stage. He probably will grasp the playbook better than Everett over time. He may even have a handful of splash plays during the season filling Everett's role. Those are high aspirations for a developmental rookie project. But I appreciate the narrative that he can develop into a special weapon over time. If he has the mental acuity, emotional persistence, and develops his bulk and power...he could become the next Antonio Gates. In his first year, Gates caught 24 passes for 389 yards and two touchdowns. He made the big leaps in his second and third years on the way to All Pro status from UDRFA. Hundreds of players have been drafted since then to replicate that kind of development with sugar plum fairy articles written in their first training camps. Almost none of those panned out.
I remember when the Rams drafted Adam Carriker and the reports that he was ragdolling OLinemen in training camp. But he couldn't stay healthy and had a below average career.
Harris has the athletic profile to become special. McVay is creative enough to form a significant role for him in this offense. But there's a mountain of work to be done and he is at the base of Everest where thousands have begun, but few have scaled. As fans...all we can do is hope as the rigors of the task will test his fortitude. Fingers crossed...
