2020 Raiders Draft Prospect: LB Malik Harrison

2020 Raiders Draft Prospect Profile

Name: Malik Harrison

Position: Linebacker

School: The Ohio State University

Height: 6’2”

Weight: 240 pounds

Stats

Tackling

While other linebackers catch the ballcarrier, Harrison furnishes stopping power. The play ends at contact, with no further yardage. Providing thump to a tackle is more than jarring the ball loose. Harrison gets the target on the ground instantaneously. How? Grip and drive. Hands, leverage and quickness working to make the play. Plus, Harrison can serves as a cleanup tackler, thwarting any wiggle free.

Speed

When shooting a gap, Harrison beats the block with n adjusted stride. He sees his way through before the block fully engages. Under those circumstances, Harrison runs with spring and confidence. He gauges the depth and approach of the play. From a burst level, Harrison plays with above average effective speed that makes up ground on the perimeter. Between the tackles, like he’s shot from a cannon, he will knife in to make the stop. Meanwhile, the Buckeyes used him off the edge to rush the passer.

Aggression

Regardless of play location, Harrison attacks. Loves contact. He shed blocks with force, getting free to pursue. In space, he offers no hesitation. The only improvement here requires a widening out of angles on pursuit.

Raiders Fit

Sooner or later, Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden will need to address the gaping void at linebacker. If you are honest, all three spots look up for grabs. With Harrison, the Raiders could see deploy him in a myriad of ways. As an outside linebacker, Harrison can man the intermediate to slightly deeper routes. Additionally, he would excels near the line of scrimmage. Plus, Harrison could ultimately wind up at middle linebacker. At Ohio State, he enjoyed quite a few snaps in the middle.

Athletically, the upgrade remains obvious. With teams preferring to spread their offenses wide, the overwhelming need for quality linebackers exist. Without a doubt, Harrison profiles as a three-down linebacker with the versatility to play the middle, after starting on the outside. As mentioned, the blitzing also opens so many doors within Guenther’s defense.