Summary:

Harold is a 2-year starter and 3-year true junior. He has started 24 straight games the last two seasons and appeared in all 12 games as a true freshman. He finished his career with129 total tackles, 75 solo, 17.5 sacks, 36.5 TFL, 4 FF, 1 FR (for a TD), 2 INT, 3 PBU. Harold lines up in a 2pt, 3pt, & 4pt stance throughout each tape I saw as well as in a wide 9, 5 tech, 4 tech, and even a 3 tech at times.

Harold is an exceptionally muscular, ripped up body with lots of twitch and explosion in his movements both out of his stance & laterally in the twist game. He gives OL fits not only with outstanding burst, but also special bend around the edge, and very aggressive hands. He has experience in reading the OL, ball, and cadence pre-snap. His reaction time appears to be a tad late when his head is pinned inside watching the ball. He excels at timing the cadence but has a slight recoil before he explodes & if it isn’t timed perfectly it gives up a valuable step. When he times his burst just right his athletic profile makes him absolutely devastating for OL to recover. Harold uses an effectively timed swipe and shoulder dip combo move, an arm over, and a bullrush to effect the QB. He does a very nice job of working outside & eventually catching OL off guard back inside for his bull rush. His plays with outstanding leverage & refined handwork to get underneath & drive them back with force. He has loads of bend in his lower half, particularly his ankles. He can not only flatten but his has a rare ability to increase his speed once he does so. While he can lure OL to sleep & convert speed to power, OL tend to overset outside & anchor. Harold doesn’t display any real inside counter move & doesn’t have the strength to get off a block once locked on. Versus the run Harold has a lot of fight in him & uses the aforementioned leverage game to hold his spot at the POA at times. He utilizes a nice one arm stab to keep his chest clean and hold the edge but more times than not he cant prevent OL from engulfing him due to sheer lack of sand/size/functional strength. Head up he struggles but crossing the OL’s face from C to B gap his lateral quickness, aggressive hands, & leverage enable him to penetrate the gaps & knife through the LOS. Harold didn’t drop in coverage much at all but he did struggle coming to balance in space at times. He’s very aggressive in pursuit and tends to react late to COD.

One area Harold stands out in is when his defense needed a big play he usually was the one generating pressure in key moments. I think he was used too much inside the OT at the LOS leaving him exposed to double teams and getting lost in traffic. He is built & has the skill-set to excel as a 3-4 edge player and has the hand strength/athleticism to play as a SLB as well. While I didn’t see him in coverage he has the tools to develop in this area. Overall Harold has the burst, bend, length, hand strength, and aggressiveness to effect the pass game right away and not be a complete liability versus the run if kept on the edge. He should develop into a high quality starter with a good shot at earning multiple pro bowl spots down the line.

Pro Comp – Whitney Mercilus