Understanding Kwame Harris: Mission Impossible?

by Fooch on Aug 6, 2007 10:36 PM PDT in News Comment 12 comments

So I'm going to go out on a limb and call San Francisco 49ers right tackle Kwame Harris one of the bigger whipping boys here at Niners Nation. Try not too look to stunned at that pronouncement. As a former first round pick, while he's shown solid talent as a run blocker, we seem to have come to a general consensus that he has been a bust overall primarily due to his inadequacies in the passing game. He certainly hasn't turned into an anchor on the right side of the offensive line by any stretch of the imagination.

However, the easy route right now is to bash the guy. I think it's safe to say that he is not going to be around much longer as the team has drafted a guy that could replace him, or at the very least, force Jonas Jennings back over to right tackle. With Kwame's time relatively short, I decided to look back at the scouting reports and try and better understand a guy who has never caught on, both on the field and as a fan favorite.

I was inspired in part by an article in the Chronicle on Sunday about Harris's battle for his own job with the team's drafting of Joe Staley. The article emphasized how Kwame is a nice guy who might just need to get a little meaner if he wants to fight off Staley.

Confronted with the reality of a younger player drafted to one day take his job as the 49ers' starting right tackle, perhaps sooner than later, Harris is all smiles as he talks about the wonderful nature of athletic competition.

"He's going to continue to push me," Harris said of Joltin' Joe Staley, drafted No. 28 in the first round. "He also provides us with good depth. I have nothing bad to say about him."

Maybe Harris should spit contemptuously on the carpet and snarl, "Like hell some rook is going to come in here and push me aside without a fight. Bring it on, dude. Let's see what this hayseed from Central Wherever has. That's what I'm talkin' about!"

Clearly, Kwame Harris is no Larry Allen in regards to bringing some of the mean to the table. When the 49ers drafted him, I was a little worried about a guy who was big into music and a general renaissance man. While I'm glad he has other talents outside of football, I wonder if these outside interests might cause a lack of intensity? Is there a reason he's just a gregarious, happy, nice guy?

In looking back at scouting reports and grades before and after the draft, a couple of things popped out at me. When Len Pasquarelli graded each team he mentioned that, "...Harris doesn't really have the quick feet some people assume he does, nor if he especially tough. There's an upside to him but it might hurt Harris to force him too soon." Over at Sports News Canada (bless Google for the random sites I can find), "Doesn't have a mean streak and won't pop people out of his stance."

Clearly some team will overpay as the Cowboys probably did with another underperforming offensive lineman, Leonard Davis. All reports indicate Kwame is having a solid camp. Does Kwame last the entire year as a starter? His competition would be boils down to Joe Staley and Adam Snyder. While many people want to move past Kwame, he's hear this year and if he has a decent year, it only helps our depth.

How does everyone else see this season going down at the right tackle position? Does Kwame show just enough to hold onto his job, or do Snyder or Staley make their presence felt? While I'd love to see Staley in the starting lineup at some point, I have no problem being patient and letting him learn from the veterans on the line. On the other hand, I think barring injury we could see a nice little rotation develop with Snyder and Harris. Hopefully both are effective.

EDITOR'S NOTE - I'll be getting an obscenely early start to get down to Santa Clara for for camp tomorrow, so I don't think I'll be getting a link dump up (I won't have a computer with me). Feel free to throw something up amongst yourselves and I'll be back tomorrow early evening with a wrap up of my day down at 4949 Centennial Boulevard. See you then.

EDITOR'S NOTE #2 - So my birthday is coming up next Sunday and I got a Wii for said birthday. Simply unbelievable I must say. I just played the tennis and the bowling games and you can definitely get a work out from it. I highly recommend it if you get a chance to get one. I'm curious to see how Madden plays on it.

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Wii!

I was insane about getting a Wii, and finally maaged to wrangle one in February. 've had precious little time since then to play it, but it's a wonderful system.

Also, I think Madden plays really well on it with the '07 control scheme, though I think '07 is a weaker installment of the game overall (I'm a franchise guy and they made drafting less scout friendly and LONGER than ever before, so I couldn't deal with it), but the gameplay itself works extremely well (plus, you can always play with the GC remote if you don't like it).

I'm super excited about getting Mario Strikers: Charged, recommend Super Monkey Ball and Mario Party 8 if you like multi-player, Wario-Ware if you kind of dig temporary insanity, Super Paper Mario if you like good games, and a THOROUGH combing of the virtual console for a serious amount of great games from the past (Mario games, Zelda games, Sega games, Ninja Gaiden - fucking hard - Donkey Kong games, Castlevania games, TECMO Football (I believe...), etc.).

Boy I can't wait until I finally get a job, move somewhere, and have the time and privacy to log thousands of hours on that thing. I hate that it sits around my grandma's house mostly unused...

I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down... over and over...

by howtheyscored on Aug 7, 2007 1:48 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Wii

I bought it during December. Had a whole week off of work, so I checked with Toys R Us on a daily basis (physically, as they wouldn't answer their damn phone). Got one just after Christmas along with an extra Wii-mote and Madden.

Since then, my girlfriend and I have gotten a kick out of Wii Sports (especially tennis, if you have four players), Wii Play, Cooking Mama, and Mario Party. With the exception of Cooking Mama, those games are great games to play when there are a lot of people around. That's not to say they're not fun with only two players as well.

I loved Madden. I, like HTS, am a Franchise kind of guy. I create myself, in one of the positions of deficiency (in '07, it was ILB in a 3-4, benching Derek Smith). I agree with HTS in that the scouting was a little disappointing. While I liked the idea of being "physically" or directly involved with scouting, I also liked the more "preliminary" method in the old methods where you just select X number of players.

I won't knock the Senior Bowl though. My first offseason, I played it and noticed a CB on my defense was all over the place. I checked his projected round and selected him the round ahead of it (in this case, projected 3rd, selected 2nd). That third round pick advanced passed Walt Harris and Shawntae Spencer by the end of year 1, and he was my starter for 10 years, before his speed dipped below 90. I moved him to safety and was still going strong up to the point I sold the game.

I went 14 seasons by about a month ago and my created player retired, so I sold my game. With '08 coming in a week, I look forward to starting the process all over again.

by sfgfan on Aug 7, 2007 9:25 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Kwame

What's funny about the scouting reports that say he won't attack people out of his stance is that popping people out of one's stance is a prerequisite to good run-blocking. As it's been stated here (and in various other places), Kwame is actually a solid run-blocking RT. Where he fails is his pass protection, which is caused by his poor footwork.

Overall, a team who has a run-first mentality could probably make good use of Kwame. Teams like Pittsburgh, Baltimore and such could play up his strengths better than a team like the Rams or Detroit can.

by sfgfan on Aug 7, 2007 9:14 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Run-First

One would have to consider us in the upper eschelon of the run-first heirachy, a run-first epitome if you will, and if we think he sucks then we either suck at evaluating skills or he just plain sucks. Unless Harris ends up in ATL, this year where they're all but garaunteed to have no passing game ever, where he can run block on everyplay he'll prove to be a liability on passing downs, which tend to be critical plays for run-first teams.

by methodrampage on Aug 7, 2007 10:18 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nolan vs. "We"

I know what you're saying. We, the fans, think Kwame sucks. We even go as far as saying he's the weakest link. We demand for anyone other than Harris to start, and the list had previously began with guys like Adam Snyder.

Contrary to our beliefs, though, there are people who like Harris. Nolan loves the guy, and part of that is because he's a capable run-blocker.

We you say, "we think he sucks," are you saying on the whole? Most of my gripes with Harris have to do with his untimely penalties (holding calls that nix big plays) and the apparent beatings he takes when he falls back into pass blocking. There aren't many instances, off the top of my head, where he was bad in the run game.

A lot of fans remember those holding penalties and DE's running around him, and that's all they remember. I'm not saying I remember seeing him make solid run blocks, but I don't remember him fouling up many, either.

That Kwame video "tribute" isn't up anymore is it?

by sfgfan on Aug 7, 2007 11:41 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sadly, no

I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down... over and over...

by howtheyscored on Aug 7, 2007 12:44 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

On the whole

Yes as a whole I consider Kwame Harris to suck. When considering his pass blocking, run blocking and his first round draft pick status on the whole I feel comfortable in saying that I, in my humble and honest opinion, think Harris sucks a fat one.

Even if he is slightly above average as a run blocker his ineptitude in pass protects makes him a huge liability and couple that with the fact that he cost us a first round pick, I for one, cannot wait for his tenure with the 49ers to come to an end.

by methodrampage on Aug 7, 2007 2:56 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re:

I can't wait until he's gone either. I just think its unfair to the guy to make him out to be as bad as everyone does. I know he cost the team a 1st rounder, but I wouldn't put that on him as much as I would put it on the GM/HC that chose him. He can't help where he's chosen, regardless of what his talent for the game is.

Nevertheless, I can't wait for the year to be over so the team can be rid of his contract. I can't wait to see if Staley takes over RT. A change for the better, hopefully.

On a side note, what if Harris doesn't receive any enticing offers (highly unlikely) and the 49ers could reel him in for whatever league minimum is and zero signing bonus, would you do it? Is there enough talent there to warrant a seat on the bench for him?

by sfgfan on Aug 7, 2007 3:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

i would take him

he would get offers but i think he could be a very serviceable back up, if he didnt cost that much he would be worth it to keep, who knows if staley will even be ready next year (the original plan was for him to sit this year, then about 50 percent next year) so harris might be worth it

by Vote4Gore on Aug 7, 2007 3:45 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Let's not forget

Snyder.

Doghouse though he may have been in.

I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down... over and over...

by howtheyscored on Aug 7, 2007 3:58 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

right

yeah snyder is in the doghouse and i believe it was said he wanted alot of money or to go start somewhere after this season, so i dont think he will be here for long

by Vote4Gore on Aug 7, 2007 4:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Snyder != Smiley

I don't think Snyder is in the doghouse, anymore. He's now being groomed as Larry Allen's eventual replacement at left guard. He's been working at left guard so far in camp, notably (I believe) on the day that Allen missed and in the afternoon practices (or which ever practice Allen skips by design).

I think you're confusing Snyder with Smiley. Smiley's deal is over at the end of this year, and he wants the money the free agents got this past offseason. Nolan and McCloughan feel that guards are very replaceable, and won't give into his demands. Snyder, on the other hand, signed an extension some time in the past year, I believe. So he'll be here for years (at least four) to come.

by sfgfan on Aug 8, 2007 9:17 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs