Yeah, How 'bout those Ducks?
 

Oregon Ducks rundown: Cliff Harris' poor decisions could cost him millions | OregonLive.com

Oregon cornerback Cliff Harris' actions could be creating his own recession.

Harris appears to not have enough money to purchase his own car or get his license and insurance situations squared away, but he is steadily igniting thousands, maybe millions of dollars he hasn't earned yet.

Harris, suspended from the team Monday after Eugene police cited him for three traffic violations four months after he was suspended for being cited for driving 118 mph along Interstate-5, was once projected to be a late first-round pick in next year's NFL Draft by several websites that monitor such things.

But Harris' stock has plummeted in some circles, partly because of his actions off the field but mostly because of his inactivity on it.

Harris, a junior, has been unable to wrestling his starting job away from redshirt freshman Terrance Mitchell. Partly because of Mitchell's play but also because, according to coach Chip Kelly, Harris needs to practice and perform better.

One NFL scout who was asked how big of a hit the 5-foot-11, 165-pound Harris' stock has taken responded, "I'm not sure he has stock. What has he done? Hard to draft a non-starter who is really small and can't tackle."

NFLDraftScout.com, which once had Harris ranked as a first-round prospect, now has him rated as the No. 10 cornerback in next year's draft and dropped him to 71st overall, which would place him in the third round.

Rob Rang, a senior analyst for the site, said he still considers Harris to be a first-round talent but his inability to get on the field regularly this season and produce is hurting him far more than his traffic violations will.

"Not starting has been the biggest shock," Rang said.

Last year, Harris led the Ducks with six interceptions and 17 pass breakups while ranking second in the nation in punt return average (18.8 yards per return). So far this year he has one interception and five pass breakups and is averaging 7.6 yards per punt return.

That the Ducks have plugged in a young corner and kept rolling, Rang said, is a knock on Harris' impact, but also a credit to the Ducks ability to produce good defensive backs. Former Ducks defensive backs T.J. Ward (Cleveland), Patrick Chung (New England), Walter Thurmond III (Seattle) and Jairus Byrd (Buffalo) all started games for their respective NFL teams this season.

Harris, should he declare for next year's draft, would have chances to rehabilitate his image and wow scouts at Oregon's Pro Day and the NFL Scouting Combine, assuming he is invited to the latter.

Rang said that as bad as the speeding incident was, Harris came off well in the released video of the traffic stop.

"I watched that video and he seemed to be as contrite as he could be," Rang said.

All is far from lost for Harris.

Former Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount, originally projected as a potential third-round pick before the 2009 season, fell out of the NFL Draft all together after being suspended from the team for much of the season following his ill-advised punching of a Boise State player in the season-opener. But he recovered nicely and is starring for Tampa Bay (although he is currently out with a knee injury). But being signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by Tennessee left him to sign for the minimum with a small signing bonus as opposed to what he might have earned as a mid-round draft pick.

Harris could be costing himself significantly more money. In last Aprils' draft, the Baltimore Ravens selected defensive back Jimmy Smith out of Colorado with the 27th-overall pick and signed him to a four-year contract worth $7.46 million in guaranteed money.

By comparison, the Chicago Bears signed third-round pick, safety Chris Conte out of California, to a four-year deal worth $2.6 million. But the only guaranteed money is the $533,000 signing bonus. The rest comes if he continues to make the team.

In other words, Harris' June incident, which ultimately cost him his starting job, could also cost him upwards of at least $5 million, assuming he is a third-round pick and plays in the league for four years.

Now, NFL players have done far worse things than speed and drive without insurance and still received large contracts. So again, it all comes back to production. And right now, Harris is lacking in that department in part because of his poor driving habits and because he's been unable to unseat a redshirt freshman.

Not a good combination for an aspiring NFL prospect.

Seriously, Paul?

Schaudenfreude? Personal vendetta?

Whatever, you should have titled this "How bout that Ducks CB?"

I don't know anything about him, but I'm surprised that anyone who is 5'11" and 165 could have ever really been a top draft pick prospect for a corner back.

It seems like the trend in the NFL is towards really tall, big receivers. Like 6'5"+. They'd be able to leap over this guy.

Even if he is really skilled, 5 11 165 v. 6 5 245 is a child v. a man.

He's awfully quick...but I agree, pretty small for the NFL.

Little of both..Randy's post on the world series thread touting football over baseball, mentioning the Ducks, kind of ticked me off... too late to change the title, sorry..

it's ok Paul - you are well recognized as a Hater

Now that's ironic! SmileWavy

The purpose of a college is to educate young men and women. It is not to churn out suitable NFL draft material. That is an aside (albeit a very lucrative one) to the business of educating people.

The decision of the college to put someone who acts like a ding bat (yes, 118 while smokin' a doobie in a rental car with others inside on a public road is a ding bat move), on suspension and let a freshman take their place sends a very strong message.

GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER. Stupid, dangerous, risky behavior is not acceptable. Not even for a football standout. You can be replaced. Just like in real life.

Good for them.

angela (da quacker-backer)

Yeah but the players at USC are the bad ones!
The dux have had several players who have gotten in trouble over the past few seasons. Almost as many as LSU if you can believe that.
Their rep is in serious trouble.
If they keep recruiting and playing trouble-makers and trash they'll pay the price. Selling out morals and ethics for a top 10 BCS ranking is a short-sighted move on the coach's part.

no Paul - let me help you out:

UO - Ducks
OSU Beavers (they even won a game this year - good for them!)

Humboldt or somebody has the Slug

and Stanford has the Cardinal, yet for some reason the rest of us are not smart enuff to understand, uses a tree as a mascot at games


but if I missed a team that has the rhat as a mascot, let me know; same if you find one using a rat

you doity rhat...

True.

As we've seen, it'll lead to the head coach fleeing the team, bowl ineligibility, stripping of wins, loss of scholarships, etc.

I think that may have happened recently somewhere . . .

Yes.....and ouch.

UPDATES:

Harris's dad says the license suspension had expired at the time of this ticket, they DO have insurance on that car & they are looking to fight this in court (if true and they win, then he only got nailed for a no-seat belt violation)

no word on changes to his suspension from the team - he was not even present at the last practice, even in street clothes (Coach Kelly might have banned him, but he is notoriously tight lipped).

At minimum, this kid has an impulse control and judgement problem.

UO's improvement in graduation rates continues and they have now led the conference for 2 years -- nowhere near God (PSU) however.

I agree with Angela's post and even sammy's final sentence, but the Ducks' - ah - misdeeds do not even compare to those of LSU, much less USC.

Yep, ONE LOW-LIFE broke the rules and that screwed up an entire program and hurt students for years to come, three people lost their jobs over it, even though NONE OF THEM had anything to do with it.

Yet a QB from orey-gone got arrested twice, once for drugs and once for burglary, and when the coach benched him (pending sentencing) the NCAA let him transfer to another Div 1 team and keep playing.

Wasn't it blount who was benched for an entire season for taking a total puzzy-arsed cheap shot after the game was over at a Boise player who was not looking, until orey-gone needed him and retracted the suspension to let him play so they could compete for the BCS? Yes, I think it was.
They should have kicked him out of school, but instead they sold out their morals and ethics to let him make money for the school.

THE ohio state had what, six players suspended for breaking basically the same rules that USC was punished for, yet the team faced NO SANCTIONS! Heck the NFL was tougher on one of the punks than the NCAA was. Where did he end up? Oh that right, the RAIDERS. Perfect fit.
I know, the coach was forced to quit, AFTER IT WAS PROVEN THAT HE COVERED UP THE RULES INFRACTIONS. still, not even a slap on the wrist.

Then there was that team down in Flore-duh that got caught helping the players cheat in classes ... players who were for all intents and purposes totally illiterate. How did that end up? I don't remember reading about any sanctions.

A couple years back the LSU football team had 8 different players arrested in one season for different infractions with three players cut after they were locked up, yet I don't remember any sanctions.

Yep, it's pretty fair how that NCAA doles out punishment.
Everyone knows they don't try to even the playing field by knocking down divisional dynasties to let the other teams compete, maybe they should get rid of the BCS system and just give all teams PARTICIPANT trophies.

USC, even though they can't recruit becasue of no bowl games, and are limited to 15 scholarships per yer and no more than a total of what, 30? 40? caint remember but it's a much lower number than other teams, and despiter all that they are still rated in the top 20 in the nation in all the polls except the BCS, which they are not eligible to be in.

Not bad, swimming upstream with handcuffs on and still nearly winning the races.
They'll end up losing to stanford and orey-gone and will drop out of the polls, and their QB will go pro this year and next year they'll suck, but as soon as these BS sanctions are over they'll climb back to the top and you'll all hate it, and I'll laugh.

you're right, sammy - USC is pure as the driven snow and the NCAA just has it in for them (maybe because their academic standards are so high -- or maybe because they use all their endowment to educate the children of poor people)

You've obviously never read the NCAA's very detailed (and lengthy) final report/findings on the matter.

No one single player could ever bring a program down single handedly, no matter what he does.

A player could take money, drive drunk, and go on a mass murder spree, but if he's acting alone, that won't do anything to a program.

You know that.

Blount is no angel, but the Boise State player RICHLY deserved an ass kicking. After winning the game, the Boise State player sought out Blount to trash talk him then he shoved him. Then it was lights out. Poor sportsmanship properly rewarded.

After the punch, Blount goes after the fans in the stands, a stupid move that tarnished his post game KO. :D:D:D

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/R_3299v-A1o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Cliff Harris was kicked off the team today. He hasn't played in any recent games either.