Name: Zach Harrison

School:  Ohio State

Year:  Sr

Position: Edge

Measurements: 6’5 ½ 274, 36 ¼” arms, 10” hands

Combine: 25 bench reps, Pro day: 7.33 3-cone, 4.66 short shuttle, 34.5 vertical, 10’03” broad jump

STATS:

Courtesy of Sports-reference.com

General Info:

Harrison played in just seven games as a high school senior and still accumulated 14 tackles for a loss and seven sacks. He was a five-star recruit and the top player in the state of Ohio in 2018. Harrison also played in the US Army All-American Bowl, and he enrolled early for the winter session at Ohio State. He played in all 14 games as a true freshman with two starts, finishing the season with 13 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, 7 pressures, and four sacks. For the 2020 season he played in seven of the eight games his team played and collected 9 tackles, 4.5 tackles for a loss, 22 pressures, and just two sacks. He finally became a starter in 2021, starting 12 games and was named a team captain for the season, and had 28 tackles, 8 tackles for a loss, 27 pressures, 4 sacks, and three passes batted. In his final season at Ohio State, Harrison saved his best for last collecting 33 pressures, 8 tackles for a loss, 6 sacks, four batted passes and 18 total tackles.

Positional Skills:

Strengths: At first glance Harrison is a mountain of a man and looks like he was put together in a lab at 6’5 274 pounds and with 36 inch arms, which he uses to his advantage. The former Buckeye sets a strong edge, and is a solid run defender who shows very good strength in both the run and pass game. He has experience playing both in a 2-point stance, 3-point stance, and a 4-point stance, he can play stand up or with his hand in the dirt, has taken snaps at 3-tech, and he has played both left and right side. Harrison displays a quick closing speed to the quarterback on film. The former five-star recruit has shown on film that he can do some zone drops and make tackles outside the box. He is a very good tackler on film, and has only missed 8 tackles in his four-year career. Harrison has shown a very good bull rush, two-hand shuck, and speed to power pass rush moves on film, that is where he does most of his damage. His motor is always running; you will see him trying to run down a ball carrier 20 yards down the field. The Ohio native has shown he can stack and shed and also play half man with his blocker. He has shown he can handle a lot of snaps; he averaged 37 a game in 2022, and 46 a game in 2021. Harrison will throw some head fakes and jukes at his blocker. He has shown an arm over/swim, and a rip move that have some potential. Harrison also has a knack for getting in throwing lanes and batting balls at the line of scrimmage.

Weaknesses: Harrison statistically never met his full potential, he was a high five-star recruit that didn’t start until he was a Junior and never eclipsed six sacks in a season and only totaled 16 in his career. His bend is pretty average on film, he is not a player that will bend the edge and dip under and past a tackle, he tries to do that more than he should and ends up losing his balance, that’s just not his game. His pass rush plan needs a lot of work like most edge rushers coming out. Harrison has yet to show he can work counters or stack moves on each other. He will have some trouble disengaging from blockers when bull rushing them into the back field, IE has some trouble finishing plays. On film he has been fooled from time to time by play action and misdirection plays, but not enough to be concerning. The Ohio natives speed looks to be average on film. His arm over and rip move need work, the rip is being used too soon and needs to be quicker. The former team captain plays in a wide-9 stance a lot and that is probably not the best fit for his skill set.

Fit with the Packers:

For what the Packers typically draft Harrison fits the mold, he is tall, a high-level athlete, long arms, over 260, he plays with power, and is a good run defender. Harrison may never be a top-level 12+sack a season type of pass rusher, but he could be a guy who plays hard and is solid all-around player that hits 8-10 sacks a season, if he can develop more pass rush moves, learn how to string moves together, work on an inside counter when he speed rushes to the outside, and overall just do a better job of finishing plays. The former Buckeye has a high floor due to his play against the run, his elite athleticism, and his motor; so even if he does not develop as a pass rusher at the very least you are getting a guy that will defend the run, and play hard and should at least get 4-5 sacks a season just on that and his physical gifts. The former Buckeye would be a good compliment to Gary if he can develop. He should go sometime on day two, probably in the 2nd round.