Jets' David Harris Must "Move Like A Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee"

When the Jets drafted David Harris from the University of Michigan University in 2007, they were hoping to have gotten a kid who would one day become a great NFL linebacker. The Jets during their history have had good linebackers, from Gregg Buttle to Marvin Jones and Mo Lewis to Bryan Cox, but the franchise has never had a dominant player at the position.

Whenever it seemed that the franchise was on the verge of fielding a great player at linebacker, they let him go, such as James Farrior and John Abraham. There has never been a Ray Lewis or a Lawrence Taylor on this team, nor a Jack Lambert or Teddy Bruschi.

However, in 2009, Harris has a chance to break with past history in a big way.

In 2007, Harris was a standout all season. He recorded 121 tackles and appeared to be in on every single play, whether a run, a sack, or pass coverage, Harris was all-world that season. But in 2008, Harris dropped off the radar, in spite of consistent and somewhat undeserved praise. Color it a sophomore slump or just plain bad luck; in either case, Harris was a disappointment; he recorded 76 tackles, one sack and one blocked one pass over 11 games.

There remain high expectations for Harris; in fact, people in and around the Jets organization feel he can become one of the great linebackers of the game; reportedly, some are sanguine enough to assert that Harris already is a very good linebacker.

However, with Rex Ryan installing his complex 46 Defense from the Baltimore Ravens, Harris' presence and maturation takes on even more importance to this team. It's a hell of time for a young man to learn a new system, coming off of a bad season as he does, but that precisely where Harris finds himself.

When Ryan coached with the Ravens, middle linebacker was key to the defense's success. Linebackers in the Ravens' defensive scheme were responsible for creating most of the havoc inflicted on opposing offenses, going beyond a simple blitz package. In Ryan's defense, it is blitz, blitz, blitz and more blitz. Ryan's athletes are gifted performers whose physical abilities are incomparable. Ray Lewis, for example, has been a key to the Ravens D for so many years due to his ability to beat the stuffing out of just about anyone who comes across his path, in tandem with his athletic talent to cover tight ends, slot receivers and running backs.

Such players are expected to be extremely physical and mentally tough. First, they must possess the physical tools to both tackle and sack the quarterback, as well as unleash Mercury-like speed to chase running backs in the flat, wide receivers deep in the field, and force turnovers with bone-jarring hits.

Bart Scott, who is now Harris' teammate, was a product of that system and was quite successful at it, recording four straight seasons of 100 plus tackles including a Pro Bowl appearance in 2006 in which he recorded 153 tackles. Scott did this while being tagged as "under-sized" by many scouts before he entered the NFL.

In an article from the New York Post Online, Ryan emphasized the importance of having players familiar with his system. Along with Scott, comes safety Brian Leonard and defensive end Marques Douglas who will try to teach the Jets holdovers the ins and outs of Ryan's schemes.

"It's not only that they know the system, but they know how things are done, what the expectations are, and understand that we don't accept anything but that," Ryan said. "For them, it's critical that they have to step up there leading" (qutd. Brian Costello, "Three Ex-Ravens Helping Ryan Get Jets D Read For A Fight," New York Post).

How the new philosophy shapes the mind of the 25-year-old in question, who is still virtually a babe in the woods in terms of football years, remains to be seen. That uncertainty intrigues and engages our attention.

Harris has the potential to become a player like Scott, or, dare I say it, Ray Lewis. At 6'2", 243 pounds, he is the archetypal Rex Ryan linebacker; he is physical, fast and, more important, dedicated.

What Harris needs to learn to become the complete package is to metamorphose into a better linebacker in coverage. Last season, Harris got burned a few times in coverage down the middle and on slants. He has yet to make his first career interception. In this new Ryan defense system, it will be imperative for the middle linebacker move around in space, bump receivers or running backs and create utter confusion for the quarterback.

Exemplars of successful Rex Ryan linebackers are Bart Scott, who has 16 career passes defended and three interceptions in his career so far, while future Hall of Famer Ray Lewis has 28 interceptions, two for touchdowns.

Keep in mind, pass coverage will be important in the AFC East this year with the always dangerous Wes Welker moving across the middle for the Patriots. Welker has had two straight years of 100 plus catches, a record that should continue this year with Tom Brady back in the fold. Lee Evans or Rosco Parrish will likely see some time at slot receiver with the addition of Terrell Owens to Buffalo, so Harris will have to become better in coverage really fast if he wants to become a better player.

As a tackler and blitzer, Harris owns the goods in this department provided his 2008 struggles were an aberration. Teams likely doubled up on Harris last season after his breakout season in 2007; clearly he then represented the only real threat in the middle.

Now, with Scott next to him, Harris should get more opportunities to make plays rushing the passer as well as make big plays on the running game.

When Harris is on his game, he can be very good. In his first professional start against the Bills in the middle of the 2007 season, Harris recorded 14 tackles and a sack. He appeared all over the field, the only player the Bills had trouble stopping that afternoon in a 13-3 loss for the Jets.

If Harris can regain the form that made him the toast of New York Jets town after the 2007 season to emerge like a chrysalis from its cocoon and become more the beautiful butterfly of toughness and downright nastiness required of the great linebackers, then surely the past praise that he received will be finally justified.