One of my favorite times of the year is getting to write the Seattle Seahawks pre-NFL Draft scouting reports. I’ve already nailed it down with these notable Seahawks draft picks over the past few seasons: Byron Murphy II, Christian Haynes, Tyrice Knight, Devon Witherspoon, Zach Charbonnet, Olu Oluwatimi, Kenny McIntosh, Boye Mafe, Abe Lucas, and Riq Woolen, to name just a few.
Throughout the next few weeks we’ll be looking closely at a lot of players going from here until the NFL Draft begins. Today, we’ll go to Ole Miss not to look at quarterback Jaxson Dart, but his star receiver Tre Harris.
Let’s get to the Report!
Prospect Info
Name: Tre Harris
Jersey #: 9
College: Ole Miss Rebels
Position: WR
Awards: – Honorable Mention All-Conference USA at LA Tech (2021);
– First-team All-Conference USA at LA Tech (2022);
– Second-team Associated Press All-American (2024);
– First-team All-SEC (2024);
Class: Senior
Style: Possession
Comparison: Tee Higgins
Projection: 3rd Round
Stats
2024: 8 G, 60 Rec, 1030 yds, 7 TDs
2023: 12 G, 54 Rec, 985 yds, 8 TDs
2022: 12 G, 65 Rec, 935 yds, 10 TDs
2021: 12 G, 40 Rec, 562 yds, 4 TDs
2020: 7 G, 1 Rec, 20 yds
Combine/Pro Day Results
HT 6’2
WT 205
Arms: 31’ 7/8”
Wingspan N/A
Hands 9 5/8’’
40 yds 4,54s
10 yd split 1,56s
Short Shuttle: N/A
3 Cone Drill: N/A
VJ 38.5”
BJ 10’ 5’’
Bench Press N/A
RAS: 9,07
Background
His full name is Cleveland Joseph Harris III. The 2-star recruit was a QB (Klint Kubiak trick plays coming?) in high school who played basketball and football, including on Malik Nabers’ Comeaux High School team. Harris committed to play wide receiver at Louisiana Tech as a member of the 2020 recruiting class.
Harris played in seven games as a true freshman during the COVID-19 college season. He opted to gain an extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic. He became the starting receiver in 2021 and was named First Team All-Conference USA in 2022, where he led the team in receptions, before entering the transfer portal and committing to play at Ole Miss as a 4-star transfer.
Harris set a record in his first game at Ole Miss, catching four receiving TDs in a single game. He had two successful and productive seasons with the Rebels, including being named First Team All-SEC in 2024 despite missing time with injuries, a knee in 2023 and a groin in 2024. Additionally, he led the Rebels in both receptions and receiving yards both years, despite playing in just eight games in 2024.
Evaluating the prospect…
Route Running
The Ole Miss offense didn’t fully exploit Harris’ potential as a route runner. Sixty percent of his routes were go/fade, slant, and hitches. As a result, Harris has some routes that need to be sharpened at the next level.
He also received a lot of screen passes, heavy RPOs in a way that doesn’t translate to the NFL. Understand, the college HC has no goal of building a prospect; he wants to win games. If that means limiting himself offensively or defensively, he will do that. However, on plays outside of those limitations. Harris has shown that he has potential to be explored in the NFL.
He fakes a post route, with basically the same movements he executed on a previous snap. The head fake makes the defender buy the route, but he cuts out, leaving the opponent on the ground and gaining a lot of yards on the play.
He waits for the CB to open his hips and threatens the post route. When the defender needs to compensate, he attacks the blind spot and executes the out route. He is a very intelligent receiver.
Tre Harris averaged an astonishing 11.06 yards per route run vs. man coverage in 2024. Harris was the only FBS WR to average more than 7.5 yards per route run against man coverage for receivers who ran more than 30 routes.
Harris vs. man coverage:
36 routes run;
15 receptions;
398 receiving yards;
26.5 yards per reception;
4 TDs;
Release versus Off & Press Coverage
He eats up ground against off-coverage, winning 1-on-1s with regularity. Harris isn’t the smoothest route runner in this draft class, nor the most explosive off the line, but he offers versatility in releases and knows how to manipulate opponents.
His Stop/Stutter-Go series allowed Harris to exploit off-coverage and create vertical separation.
This is just a standard snap from Tre Harris, working in the slot against the off-man. Twitch, timing manipulation, physicality at the top of the route, route breaking, and yards after the catch.
The CB respects his vertical threat and opens up space for the post route. Harris is a very smart receiver who manipulates defenders snap after snap by showing the same moves for different routes.
Has the speed and explosiveness to win vertically on his releases. Harris has effective physicality at the line of scrimmage, some interesting double moves to create false steps on the perimeter and the ability to make difficult receptions.
The CB is caught almost flat-footed at the line of scrimmage thinking that an inside route is Harris’s objective. However, his route is vertical and he can’t reach the receiver. Even with a 4.54s in the 40-yard dash, watching the tape we see that he is a vertical threat.
He can easily get out of the zone defense, but there is a confusion in the opposing secondary that allows Harris to get free. He has open field in front of him but his QB’s pass comes behind him, he needs to slow down and come back to fight and make an incredible reception.
He can be physical coming off the snap and even with tight marking, he can catch the ball with just one hand.
Tenacity
Harris has not shown a consistent appetite as a run blocker, despite his physical size. However, when he catches passes, he plays with tenacity, fighting for every bit of yardage on every throw. Consider that he has often played injured and has shown determination to overcome injuries. Harris says he owes this personality trait to his father.
Catch Radius/Drops
Harris suffers from occasional drops in focus, getting into perfect position, but he needs to do a better job of seeing the ball in his hands to complete the catch process. He allows throws to come right at him, leading to these drops.
He threatens the “standard” fade route in the redzone. However, he comes back and makes a nice catch. The amazing thing is that he still manages to stay in bounds for the TD.
Tackles the football in the air while in coverage, displaying good spatial awareness to win at the catch point.
Good intelligence to find space in the red zone. The pass comes behind the defender and Harris needs to jump and get the ball to score the TD with mastery.
STRENGTHS:
– Size / weight / length for the position.
– Athletic ability;
– Excellent Catch Radius helps with difficult receptions;
– YAC;
– Effective against Press and Off;
WEAKNESSES:
– Concentration drops;
– Work/interest as a blocker fluctuates a lot;
– Consecutive injuries made him miss a lot of time;
– Ole Miss’ scheme limited his route tree;
Final Thoughts
Even with the arrival of Cooper Kupp, the group of receivers still needs to be strengthened. Kupp is already a veteran, MVS is not a solution and Jake Bobo, Dareke Young and Cody White have not shown that they can make a quality leap in performance. Harris could be the starter alongside Kupp and JSN, exploring verticality and as options on backside digs, something important for Klint Kubiak’s scheme and which he showed potential for at Ole Miss.
I don’t know how Seattle views the issue of his injuries and his work on blocking, since the running game will be a fundamental part of the offense. Harris is a big guy but he fluctuates a lot and borders on lack of interest at certain moments of the game. However, when he is active for blocking, he can use his frame to help his teammates a lot.
