Top returning players by PFF grade: No. 5 Cam Harris

Pro Football Focus grades every player on every play in every game.

It creates a great barometer for performance and a grade above 70.0 is considered very good.

There are five returning Miami players who crossed that threshold over the entire 2020 season.

Today we begin counting them down with No. 5 Cam Harris:

PFF BY THE NUMBERS: 443 reps, 70.2 overall grade, 54.6 PASS, 53.2 PBLK, 76.0 RUN, 47.0 RBLK

When you break down the above Pro Football Focus numbers, one thing stands out: When Cam Harris was handed the ball he graded out pretty darn well (76.0). but he was subpar in all the other metrics analyzed (54.6 PASS, 53.2 PBLK, 47.0 RBLK). That's probably one of the reasons he was benched in favor of Jaylan Knighton to start the Duke game late last season (Knighton was injured the first series and missed the rest of the season, so Harris got back in and was the starter from there again).

We aren't saying Harris won't start again this year (although that battle will be determined in the fall), or that he's not a superbly talented runner. But there are some deficiencies in his all-around game he must show are fixed.

A look back: Harris was great in the first two games of 2020, with 134 yards vs. UAB and then 134 against Louisville. But then he had a total of 78 rush yards the next four games combined and never had another 100-yard performance. Harris ended with 643 rush yards and 10 TDs.

Now he's got to hang on to the job with coordinator Rhett Lashlee saying that instead of guys sharing series as they did a year ago he wants one main featured back. Knighton of course will have a say in that, as will Don Chaney coming off a shoulder injury this spring.

And new faces like Thaddius Franklin or even freshman transfer arrival Cody Brown might be able to flash.

So this will be a very interesting position to watch when fall drills begin next month and really the entire season.

CaneSport’s Take

We have seen Harris several times this summer and he clearly is in great condition as he prepares for his training camp battle to start. It could take Chaney some time to get back into a groove and gain confidence in the shoulder, so Harris figures to get a huge opportunity against Alabama and we will see what he makes of it.