Virginia Tech signed just two offensive lineman in 2017, and the Hokies will be looking to load up on blockers in the Class of 2018. One of their top targets from the beginning is John Harris.
Harris is a 6-foot-4, 275-pound offensive lineman from Mill Creek High School in Hoschton, GA. He is rated as a 3-star recruit by Rivals and holds dozens of scholarship offers, primarily from Power 5 programs. North Carolina, Michigan State, Georgia, Louisville and West Virginia are some of the more notable schools to offer.
Harris participated in The Opening regional in Atlanta on March 26, and posted the following times.
40-yard dash: 5.20 seconds
20-yard-shuttle: 4.75 seconds
Vertical jump: 27.2 inches
At this point in the process, Harris might be the best offensive lineman left on the board that Virginia Tech has a realistic chance at signing. Harris has good size and athleticism, both of which help him on the field. Harris easily handles smaller defenders and finishes blocks against smaller linemen and linebackers.
In the passing game, Harris shows good footwork and is active with his hands. He’s able to run defenders around the pocket and beat speed rushes, but is also capable in a bull rush. As a run blocker, Harris has a quick jump off the line and gets to the second level very quickly. He flashes it on occasion, but I’d like to see more nastiness in the run game when it comes to finishing blocks against players of equal size.
Harris plays primarily right tackle for Mill Creek, and at 6-foot-4 and 275-pounds, he is likely a fit at right tackle or as a interior lineman.
Since offering Harris in July 2016, Virginia Tech has been in a good position. He visited Virginia Tech in September for the Hokies’ win over Boston College. Harris has yet to narrow things down officially in his recruitment, but Virginia Tech should be in it for the long haul.
Virginia Tech will need to land guys like Harris in the Class of 2018. Aiden Brown and Christian Darrisaw were the only offensive linemen to sign in the Class of 2017, but Darrisaw is expected to prep for at least a semester. That means that in this cycle, Virginia Tech will need at least four or five signees to keep the numbers up.
Harris has been one of Virginia Tech’s top targets from the beginning, but the board has changed a lot over the spring evaluation period. Virginia Tech has been involved with Gabe Gonzalez for a while now, but just offered last week. Jovaughn Gwyn, Austin Smith and Vincent Murphy are also recent offers. Virginia Tech is also evaluating their JUCO options, and have offered Josh Knipfel, TJ Bradley and Chase Brown. Aidan Raffery is another name to watch as this cycle unfolds.
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Another tough #57!
Ricky, do you have any feel for VT among those 4 star off linemen on our board, like maybe with Campbell who is from the same hs that we have had some recent success, or others?
The only 4-star on the board VT has a chance at Rasheed Walker, and it seems like he’s leaning towards Penn State. Unless one of the other linemen get re-rated, I doubt VT lands any 4-star offensive linemen in this cycle.