http://www.packersnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070826/PKR01/708260698/1989
Jury's still out on Harrell
By the time Justin Harrell brought down Jacksonville's D.D. Terry on Thursday night, more than 55 minutes of game time had elapsed and the Green Bay Packers had all but cleared their bench. The play encapsulated the potential the Packers saw in Harrell when they selected him 16th overall in April's NFL draft. The 6-foot-4, 310-pound defensive tackle knocked back guard Tuten Reyes from the line of scrimmage, then kept Reyes engaged as he reached out his free arm to haul down Terry for a 1-yard loss, with assistance from safety Charlie Peprah. Yet the timing — in mop-up duty, against a third-string guard and a fifth-string running back, surrounded by reserves and players fighting to avoid the waiver wire — is the caveat that has marked each successful moment in Harrell's preseason.
He's spent practices with the scout team and games with the practice-squad sect. He's struggled in one-on-one drills and hasn't cracked the primary rotation, all the while taking 25 to 30 percent more reps than any other defensive tackle as he tries to play himself into football shape after nearly a year on the sideline. Recent history shows defensive tackles sometimes need a little more time to develop into starters than players at other positions. But real games start two weeks from today, and there's little reason — barring an injury or trade involving Ryan Pickett, Corey Williams, Colin Cole or Johnny Jolly — to believe the Packers could justify having their first-round pick in uniform Sept. 9 against Philadelphia.
"That's a pretty good first-four rotation," General Manager Ted Thompson said last week. "But Justin's doing OK. I know there's a lot of speculation on No. 1 picks, and people saying, 'Well, what about this? What about this?' "I think he's going to be a fine player, and I'm sure he would probably like to have a little more success. But he's had his moments in preseason games. But again, that's part of being a rookie, too, is kind of learning the speed of the game and learning the violence that's in there."
From 2002 to 2006, teams drafted 19 players as defensive tackles in the first round. Only seven (36.8 percent) started at least half their teams' games as rookies, but 12 of 16 (75 percent) who have played multiple seasons were starters in Year 2. There have been busts — University of Wisconsin product Wendell Bryant (12th in 2002 to Arizona) and Johnathan Sullivan (sixth in 2003 to New Orleans) had off-the-field issues and are out of the league — but the majority have been serviceable or better. Minnesota's Kevin Williams (ninth in 2003) and Chicago's Tommie Harris (14th in 2004) have been selected to multiple Pro Bowls. Amobi Okoye, the 10th overall pick by the Houston Texans, was the only other defensive tackle taken in the first round this year. Okoye's readiness for NFL competition has been questioned as well, but he isn't coming off a major injury like Harrell, who missed all but three games in his senior season at the University of Tennessee because of a ruptured biceps tendon in his left arm.
Harrell sat out contact drills in both minicamps and organized team activity practices as a precaution. So the past month, particularly the first 10 days of training camp, has been dedicated to regaining stamina, adjusting to his increased weight — 310 pounds, up from 300 in college — lowering his pad level and acclimating to the speed of the NFL. "He's a little bit behind, and I tell him that," defensive tackles coach Nunn said before the Jacksonville game. "He's taken a lot of practice reps, which I know his legs are not under him by no means, and so that's been a factor. Once he gets to slow down a little bit and get his legs underneath him, that's going to help him that much more. But right now, we don't have that luxury of slowing him down." Coaches felt Harrell played well in roughly two dozen snaps in the preseason opener at Pittsburgh, in which he registered three tackles and sacked third-string quarterback Brian St. Pierre. But he left that game early because of fatigue — forcing an offensive lineman, Travis Leffew, to take his place the final series — and was less effective Aug. 18 against Seattle, a game in which he played more than 40 snaps and assisted on only one tackle. "He's got to learn from that," Nunn said. "He's got to play when he's tired. He's got to get in a good stance when he's tired. He's got to play fast with his hands when he's tired. He's got to do all those things, so that's part of the learning process of being a rookie. But he's steadily getting better."
Harrell's other notable play Thursday was in the third quarter, when he got two hands in the face of Jaguars quarterback Byron Leftwich. For the most part, though, Harrell blended in during his roughly two dozen plays from scrimmage, double-teamed a handful of times but often stood up one-on-one. Harrell has been listed since before training camp as the starter next to the seventh-year veteran Pickett, but Williams has started all three games, with Cole and Jolly rotating in regularly. Starting end Cullen Jenkins also moves inside in certain situations, leaving little room for Harrell with the front line. Each of the players in front of Harrell can verify the difficulty of getting into the lineup as rookies. None of them started a game in their first year out of college, and Cole and Jenkins didn't even appear in one.
Then again, none of those players entered the NFL under the scrutiny that comes with being a first-round pick. Asked whether he'd be OK with Harrell not dressing for the season opener, Thompson hesitated before saying, "I suppose. I guess it's happened before." The last time it happened in Green Bay was 2001, when defensive end Jamal Reynolds was selected 10th overall, a pick the Packers acquired by trading quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to the Seattle Seahawks — where Thompson was vice president of football operations. Reynolds sat out the season's first 11 games. He totaled three sacks in three seasons before the Packers cut him, cementing his status as one of the biggest draft busts in team history. Praising Harrell's coachability and steady improvement, Packers coaches maintain Harrell will make a far more positive impact. Perhaps sooner than his limited preseason role makes it seem. "He's just got a lot of areas he's got to come on in," Nunn said. "I talk to him at least every other day, but probably every day about it. I think he will definitely be contributing early in the season."
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http://www.acmepackingcompany.com/story/2007/8/26/18181/6418
Is Justin Harrell A Bust?
He hasn't played very well this season, and he's been spending more time lately with the second stringers and less with time with the starters. He's been outplayed this preseason by DTs Corey Williams and Johnny Jolly, but he's been about as good as DTs Ryan Pickett and Colin Cole. The best thing about Harrell is that he's never played bad. He might not be creating much of a pass rush or leading the defensive line in tackles, but he's not getting shoved all over the field either. He is a rookie and although it might not take a long time to learn to play his position, he does have to get used to the speed and the caliber of players he is playing against. It should take a several games or even his entire rookie season to get used to it. Unlike the list of the worst 1st round busts listed in the above linked article, he doesn't have any (known) off field problems to worry about. Plus Pelissero makes a good point that it should take some period of time for him to get back into football shape after not playing for approximately nine months. Although his injury happened at Tennessee around late September, early October, he didn't play in any of the minicamps (as far as I recall) and didn't get back on the field until last month. He's not a bust and although he doesn't deserve to start, he's going to get playing time and improve as the season goes on, and will be an important part of the defensive tackle rotation by the end of the season.
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http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=651974
...Rookie DT Harrell continued to struggle against backups. "He played slow and looked sluggish," one scout said. "Poor reactions. He stalled out on the line of scrimmage rushing the passer. He got knocked back too far one time on the goal line."
Jury's still out on Harrell
By the time Justin Harrell brought down Jacksonville's D.D. Terry on Thursday night, more than 55 minutes of game time had elapsed and the Green Bay Packers had all but cleared their bench. The play encapsulated the potential the Packers saw in Harrell when they selected him 16th overall in April's NFL draft. The 6-foot-4, 310-pound defensive tackle knocked back guard Tuten Reyes from the line of scrimmage, then kept Reyes engaged as he reached out his free arm to haul down Terry for a 1-yard loss, with assistance from safety Charlie Peprah. Yet the timing — in mop-up duty, against a third-string guard and a fifth-string running back, surrounded by reserves and players fighting to avoid the waiver wire — is the caveat that has marked each successful moment in Harrell's preseason.
He's spent practices with the scout team and games with the practice-squad sect. He's struggled in one-on-one drills and hasn't cracked the primary rotation, all the while taking 25 to 30 percent more reps than any other defensive tackle as he tries to play himself into football shape after nearly a year on the sideline. Recent history shows defensive tackles sometimes need a little more time to develop into starters than players at other positions. But real games start two weeks from today, and there's little reason — barring an injury or trade involving Ryan Pickett, Corey Williams, Colin Cole or Johnny Jolly — to believe the Packers could justify having their first-round pick in uniform Sept. 9 against Philadelphia.
"That's a pretty good first-four rotation," General Manager Ted Thompson said last week. "But Justin's doing OK. I know there's a lot of speculation on No. 1 picks, and people saying, 'Well, what about this? What about this?' "I think he's going to be a fine player, and I'm sure he would probably like to have a little more success. But he's had his moments in preseason games. But again, that's part of being a rookie, too, is kind of learning the speed of the game and learning the violence that's in there."
From 2002 to 2006, teams drafted 19 players as defensive tackles in the first round. Only seven (36.8 percent) started at least half their teams' games as rookies, but 12 of 16 (75 percent) who have played multiple seasons were starters in Year 2. There have been busts — University of Wisconsin product Wendell Bryant (12th in 2002 to Arizona) and Johnathan Sullivan (sixth in 2003 to New Orleans) had off-the-field issues and are out of the league — but the majority have been serviceable or better. Minnesota's Kevin Williams (ninth in 2003) and Chicago's Tommie Harris (14th in 2004) have been selected to multiple Pro Bowls. Amobi Okoye, the 10th overall pick by the Houston Texans, was the only other defensive tackle taken in the first round this year. Okoye's readiness for NFL competition has been questioned as well, but he isn't coming off a major injury like Harrell, who missed all but three games in his senior season at the University of Tennessee because of a ruptured biceps tendon in his left arm.
Harrell sat out contact drills in both minicamps and organized team activity practices as a precaution. So the past month, particularly the first 10 days of training camp, has been dedicated to regaining stamina, adjusting to his increased weight — 310 pounds, up from 300 in college — lowering his pad level and acclimating to the speed of the NFL. "He's a little bit behind, and I tell him that," defensive tackles coach Nunn said before the Jacksonville game. "He's taken a lot of practice reps, which I know his legs are not under him by no means, and so that's been a factor. Once he gets to slow down a little bit and get his legs underneath him, that's going to help him that much more. But right now, we don't have that luxury of slowing him down." Coaches felt Harrell played well in roughly two dozen snaps in the preseason opener at Pittsburgh, in which he registered three tackles and sacked third-string quarterback Brian St. Pierre. But he left that game early because of fatigue — forcing an offensive lineman, Travis Leffew, to take his place the final series — and was less effective Aug. 18 against Seattle, a game in which he played more than 40 snaps and assisted on only one tackle. "He's got to learn from that," Nunn said. "He's got to play when he's tired. He's got to get in a good stance when he's tired. He's got to play fast with his hands when he's tired. He's got to do all those things, so that's part of the learning process of being a rookie. But he's steadily getting better."
Harrell's other notable play Thursday was in the third quarter, when he got two hands in the face of Jaguars quarterback Byron Leftwich. For the most part, though, Harrell blended in during his roughly two dozen plays from scrimmage, double-teamed a handful of times but often stood up one-on-one. Harrell has been listed since before training camp as the starter next to the seventh-year veteran Pickett, but Williams has started all three games, with Cole and Jolly rotating in regularly. Starting end Cullen Jenkins also moves inside in certain situations, leaving little room for Harrell with the front line. Each of the players in front of Harrell can verify the difficulty of getting into the lineup as rookies. None of them started a game in their first year out of college, and Cole and Jenkins didn't even appear in one.
Then again, none of those players entered the NFL under the scrutiny that comes with being a first-round pick. Asked whether he'd be OK with Harrell not dressing for the season opener, Thompson hesitated before saying, "I suppose. I guess it's happened before." The last time it happened in Green Bay was 2001, when defensive end Jamal Reynolds was selected 10th overall, a pick the Packers acquired by trading quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to the Seattle Seahawks — where Thompson was vice president of football operations. Reynolds sat out the season's first 11 games. He totaled three sacks in three seasons before the Packers cut him, cementing his status as one of the biggest draft busts in team history. Praising Harrell's coachability and steady improvement, Packers coaches maintain Harrell will make a far more positive impact. Perhaps sooner than his limited preseason role makes it seem. "He's just got a lot of areas he's got to come on in," Nunn said. "I talk to him at least every other day, but probably every day about it. I think he will definitely be contributing early in the season."
______________________________________________________________
http://www.acmepackingcompany.com/story/2007/8/26/18181/6418
Is Justin Harrell A Bust?
He hasn't played very well this season, and he's been spending more time lately with the second stringers and less with time with the starters. He's been outplayed this preseason by DTs Corey Williams and Johnny Jolly, but he's been about as good as DTs Ryan Pickett and Colin Cole. The best thing about Harrell is that he's never played bad. He might not be creating much of a pass rush or leading the defensive line in tackles, but he's not getting shoved all over the field either. He is a rookie and although it might not take a long time to learn to play his position, he does have to get used to the speed and the caliber of players he is playing against. It should take a several games or even his entire rookie season to get used to it. Unlike the list of the worst 1st round busts listed in the above linked article, he doesn't have any (known) off field problems to worry about. Plus Pelissero makes a good point that it should take some period of time for him to get back into football shape after not playing for approximately nine months. Although his injury happened at Tennessee around late September, early October, he didn't play in any of the minicamps (as far as I recall) and didn't get back on the field until last month. He's not a bust and although he doesn't deserve to start, he's going to get playing time and improve as the season goes on, and will be an important part of the defensive tackle rotation by the end of the season.
______________________________________________________________
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=651974
...Rookie DT Harrell continued to struggle against backups. "He played slow and looked sluggish," one scout said. "Poor reactions. He stalled out on the line of scrimmage rushing the passer. He got knocked back too far one time on the goal line."
