Keys to Being a Successful Undrafted Player with Chris Harris Jr.

And now move the sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks.

What's up everybody?

Welcome to move the sticks, DJ, Bucky with you, Buck, what's going on man now?

Man, great weekend, Happy Father's Day to you.

I'm sure you had an opportunity to give with the family and your your dad and all that other stuff. Like it's always a great time to kind of reflect over a great weekend. And then to me, DJ, it's like you have Father's Day, you have Fourth of July, and then this football season. Yeah, so that's where we're at. Like, you got a couple of weeks to fourth of July, and then once you get to fourth of July, it is downhill quickly before we get to the season.

Yeah, no doubt, it starts to really speed up on. You had a great trip this last week. Buck went to Orlando and then ended up jetting over to Gainesville. You get a chance to visit there with coach Napier and and see their whole facility and set up there. Man, what a setup. It's a little different than the quote unquote field house we had an app state back in the late nineties. The facilities these days are just unbelievable

No, I don't think it's ever been better.

And I think if you're really smart and you have a plan going into college, you really can maximize this experience, not only monetarily when you talk about nil, than the side deals that you can also, but just think about going in knowing that you're going to have nil money, while also having an opportunity to get your education in a few different ways where you're being able to see people on an accelerated plan where they not only get up bachelor's but then they can get a master's or whatever.

Yeah, And I also think of all these different factors. If guys entering college early, which we've seen a lot right to get in there that spring, so guys are graduating early, which means really you can kind of you know, obviously you could get paid throughout your whole college career. But if you graduate early and stay there and you're enrolled in a graduate course or what have you, you're

Man.

I know some people are so upset and frustrated by this new system. I think it's awesome. I might be alone with us.

I think it's great.

No, no, no, I think if channeled the right way and done the right way, yeah, I think it would be mutually beneficial for players and the universities.

I think players have to understand what's the longer.

Goal though, like because you have a lot of guys that are kind of pop coining around, bouncing around from school to school. I think if it's a little more planned in terms of like what you talked about, and I believe this, I'll go back maybe a decade. Quarterbacks

Have another opportunity.

Now everyone is beginning to take advantage of that opportunity.

But it's about having a plan. Is really that.

Part of If you have a plan in place, you can maximize the experience to have a lot of money in the bank while also having multiple options with what you want to do in your post playing career.

The other thing I was thinking of is with this edition of the twelve team Playoff, I don't know, like I got some of these preview magazines and I've been kind of looking at this schedule and different things, and Buck, I think because we have twelve teams now, that the you know, the desperation to not lose a game because that could literally take you out of the playoff hunt.

Yeah, it's a meat grinder for those schools, and you have to be able to get a DJ. This is almost like a perfect world for coaches in terms of how you want to go about building your team. So I can play tough games early to kind of gauge where we are, where we need to improve, and still put myself in a chant with an opportunity to get back in the tournament, maybe as a lower seed, but still kind of having a true assessment of what my

Just as that.

No.

I'm fired up for it, man. I actually kind of like the way that college football is gone. I think it's great, and I think its players a lot of power and opportunity, which is I think is a good thing. I think it's great for scouts to be able to see good on good competition. You get players from maybe some lower levels that have climbed up to play against better players. That makes the evaluation process easier. It's better

Yeah, I do like the landscape. I like how it was set up.

I love the competitiveness that we're going to see as they kind of begin to break it off in the postseason. And I am a believer, particularly after watch and I don't know if you've had a chance to catch any of the College World Series, Man, it is just something about tournaments and tournament play and being the last one

Years, no doubt. Well, I mean that's again, well, plenty of time as we get to the season to get into more of this stuff. But just some thoughts there on what's going on in the college football world, what that looks like, and a chance to see it up close and personal. That was a great trip there to Gainesville. All right, let's get to our guests here. Let's go from the SEC to a former Big twelve player here

Oh yeah, no problem, man, y'all been great for me over my career. Man, So it's definitely fun to come up here talk football with you guys.

Man, it's always fun.

Well, we appreciate you taking the time, man, we want to spend today. We've had a chance to visit with you so many times over the years and and enjoyed those conversations talking about the league and what's going on. But this is specific conversation we wanted to have with you, and that is about the transition, the challenge, uh, and then the keys to being successful as an undrafted player. You go back to you and your process coming out of Kansas. You go undrafted, no combine, invite, like the

Oh man, Luckily I was blessed that well, it was it was, I would say it was. It was a negative and a positive. Right, we had that lockout, so I got to go up to once the lockout was lifted, I got to be with the team faster than the other rookies because they hadn't signed their contract, their rookie contract yet.

It was the new CBA, and you.

Know, nobody knew like the you know, the beginning guaranteed. You know, you know the issue now Now it's not an issue now because now everybody knows the slots of the quarterback number one pick all the way down, right, But at that time, it was the first year, so nobody really understood how much Cam Newton was gonna get. So Von and a lot of those guys didn't get there until probably like a week or so later.

So that gave me an opportunity to show what I could do.

So and that was the advantage for me being able to come through in the lockout being undrafted. As soon as the lockout was lifted, I was picked up literally the next day, and I had to fly to Denver and get ready. So, you know, I had to be ready to go at be in great shape because first thing they did to us is run a run test, and some of the vets that were there that could make the run test, they always sent them home, you know.

So that was a wake up call right there for me.

First day, you know, just seeing how cutthroat it was, seeing that Elway wasn't playing any games and that we had to come back in.

Shape, you know, Chris, and thinking about that because you got that rude awakening right away.

They had the conditioning test, they seen guys home.

What is that like though, like, because it's different coming in, Like I was a second round pick, so you kind of get grandfather.

Then the vets kind of take you in.

But as an undrafted like you're looking around and all coaches say, don't count the numbers, but what is your mindset like every day when you show up to the facility knowing that you're living on the bubble in a different way than some other guys are living on the boat?

Oh man, it was hard because you know, when you're undrafted, they don't never change the depth chart.

You know. I was staying at number ten the whole way, you know.

So it's like you can't look at the depth chart, right, You can't look at a lot of the outside things. You just got to play ball and try to control whatever you can control. And my mindset was is, hey, I'm just gonna prove what I can do. I know they're not they're going to give me a little reps on the twos, you know, but most of my rep's gonna be.

Right here with these threes. So when we go against the ones, that's when I need to make some plays.

Right when I go against Brandon Lloyd or Decker at that time, you know, I got to make plays.

So that was my mindset. Luckily, I had great vets.

You know, I had Champ Bayley, Brian Dawkins, I had another corner named Andre Goodman that all had ten plus years in the league. So I had some great vets that you know, that's poke confidence in me from day one. Man so got the Champ, you know, he gave me confidence. You know, probably after after you've seen me play for like a week a month in camp, he was like, okay, yeah, we want you to play with us and get you going.

So he kind of he definitely took me under his wing.

One of the things we always talk about with kids when they're coming into the draft process and we're trying to give him some advice and help them through that time, we talk about the importance of pen and paper of you know, how you look in the room and you look around. The guy who doesn't have a pen in his hand. Okay, I feel good about winning that competition. Like how important was it for you? You talked about

Yeah.

Man, I was lucky to play three positions in college. You know, I started, I played corner three years and then my last year I was playing nickel an safety, So I got to play all the positions.

Right.

So coming in the NFL, damn, I had like three decordinators at that time, so I got to see a variety of defenses at the time as a young kid. So coming in the league, I was pretty smart from my I would say, coming in understanding the different defenses, understanding how to communicate, understand running motions, stacks and bunches, communicating with the vents and things like that, and pretty much Doc told me like, hey man, you got to

Your mistakes aren't.

Limited, right, you can't make I can't make the same mistakes as von Miller or rightheem Moore. Right, My mistakes gotta be way limited compared to those guys. So that's the difference that the undrafted, your margin for air is very slim.

You know.

It's funny, Chris.

One of the things that I struggled with in my career is having the confidence is one thing, but pulling the trigger is another thing. And so playing deepensive back, there are times where you're like, man, they line up in this split every time they run this route. How did you, as an undrafted player, have the confidence just to let it go because all that other stuff is in your head about man, if I make a mistake,

I'm going for.

Man.

I think probably I'm probably the most competitive guy too, probably when it comes to not wanting to lose, you know, that was me and the Key.

We're probably the most competitive people.

You'll you'll know we don't like to lose anything, you know, So having being him on the team, you know, we just we hate to lose, you know. So that's why we work so well from college to the NFL, having that competitive drive. But that that's what really That's another thing that kept me in the league, right there, Bucket, is that I was a pit bull, but I didn't care if I got beat You beat me two times

They can't give up, give up touchdowns to a B and then come.

Back and line up again. A lot of people can't do that. They can't function like that, right. So I was luckily to have that competitive nature that you know, I was gonna line up regardless, right, And that's what I think, that's what really separated me from a lot of guys on our team with you know, with a lot of guys that are competitive, I think I was probably one of the most competitive out of everybody.

It's interesting you use that word because I was trying to find and one of the reasons we want to chat with you too, is to find that through line, like what you know, your experience, well, how does that relate to other people that had a similar experience? And I was I was going back through your draft class.

Yeah oh yeah, man.

And he's the perfect example, right of just dominating on special teams and then eventually them seeing that this guy can actually run routes, he can play receiver. Now they give him a chance at receiver, right, and he pushed his way into the lineup.

So, you know, very similar stories.

Always love facing Doug and seeing how his career went, and always looked at him because you know, that's how I had to make the team. I had to be the leading tackler and special teams in the preseason so to be able to make sure I can sit here a spot as the fifth corner on the team, and then eventually by game three, Graine four, I'm playing.

I'm starting out there on the field, so that his same way that he made.

It's kind of similar to mines man, and that's what that's kind of a lot of the routes that you're gonna have to take it as an undrafted guy.

You better be dominated on special teams.

You better find a role on the team right there, so you can secure the fifty three man roster and then work your way up. But a lot of guys, man, you know, bucket, they don't want to play special teams. They don't want to you know, they don't want to do that hard job at gunner right. I'm pretty sure me and Balwin was that gunner, right. But he was blocking kicks. That's what Doug was doing. Does was blocking

You know, and thinking about that, because I think so much of what we can learn is through the teaching. So if I'm an undrafted player. I come to camp and I'm playing behind you, Chris, and I say, Chris, how can I make the team? How our cart a career? What's the number one thing that you're gonna tell me? As an undrafted special.

Teams You gotta find a role on special teams, right, You gotta find a role that's going to secure you on the fifty three besides playing at your position right, because a lot of times, coming into the league, they already know who they have starting right.

It's very you rarely come.

Into the league and they have two corner spots open, right. They might have one, they might have a nickel, they might have some competition open at the two spot, but rarely, you know, a lot of teams already have their corner set right, So you got to figure out a way to carver away on special teams, make sure I get some value, and then eventually through injuries or they see that you're competing well or maybe this guy is not producing.

Now I can find my way to get on the field.

Right, and sometimes it's good the way as a rookie, a couple of games, right, I think it was good for me to watch a couple of games three games, you know, and then see how it is, you know, see how it is when docking them out there, really communicating and hitting and champing them or playing you know. So it was good for a couple of games to see and then when it's time to go out there, you ready to play.

I just wrote down on my paper here. You better know everything and you be wadered to do anything like it sounds like those are key components if you're going to get out there, If a coach has the faith that you're going to know what to do, and then you have a willingness to do anything they ask you to do. It feels like that that's kind of what we're getting to. That's a big part of this equation.

Oh yeah, because you're playing for the ground man.

Now, you're playing with people that are, you know, trying to take care of their five kids, trying to take care of their.

Family, their households.

So you don't want a little kid to come out there and play with you and not be able to communicate, not know the cause, not understand the game plan right, understanding motion and different things like that. There's a lot to an NFL game when it comes to preparation, right It's a reason why it takes three or four days to get ready for a game, right. It's not easy, right, especially with the offenses and the things that they're doing

You're gonna play fast, You're not gonna think right.

Everything is gonna be your moments is just gonna be fully just based off football, because you know what to do, you know where the line up, So the easiest, the easier you can do to make that for you to go out there and have success.

That's how you make the team right there.

You know, Chris, when I was in Green bay Ron with the general manager, you used to love to hire former players to scout. And what I want to do is I want to tap into your experience as a player to kind of get a little insight in terms of what you would look for in a player that you would want to play with you. So when you're scouting dbs and you're scouting defensive players, or they ask you about a player when you're in Denver, what what

Yeah, oh man, first thing you know is is he competitive?

Is he a dog? Right? Well? He compete when it's hard. You know.

You don't see that a lot, right, And the ones that do have that, you know, those are usually the probos are all pro guys, right, But that's what you're you're really looking for.

You want to see it. Can I count on this guy opposite of me? Right?

I can count on Robi He's he's a dog. I could count on to leave champion. Those guys, you know that they are going to compete, right, And that's all you want really, right If you know, if you've got somebody that can fight for you on the other side and compete, you.

Know, I'll lay them up with you. You know.

I had to do that with a lot of young corners, you know, and uh, you know, those guys went out there and.

Played hard, So I can live with that. At the end of the day.

You know, you're gonna you know, everybody's gonna be perfect, you know, especially with technique coming into the league. But that's something that we could mow. Are you coachable?

Right? Uh? You want to have a kid that's coachable.

A lot of these coaches have been coaching longer than what we've been playing, right, so they understand the game.

They've been in the NFL longer than that. Then how older then older than us? You know what I mean? I mean? So, can you be coachable? Can you learn? Do you want to learn? Right? Are you interested? Do you love the game? Right?

A lot of people might not truly love the game, They might love the stuff that come with the game, right, But I'm pretty sure Aaron Donald loved the game.

Right.

Uh, So you gotta That's what I'm looking for. Are you competitive? Do you how much do you love the game?

Do you are are you in tuning in and trying to study, trying to get better in improvement?

And that's why I want to see if you do that, I can work with you, man, We can work with you.

All Right, We're going to take a quick break and we will be back with more from Chris Harris. One of the other things that we've talked about, and we kind of step outside the undrafted role here on this conversation with Chris. When you look at offensive line, we have a tomato can theory. So the tomato can theory is that you're only as good as your worst lineman.

Oh, without a doubt, man, because now they could pick you apart. Now you can't hide anymore, right, Usually you can kind of hide that corner, you know, put some cover two on them. Real you can't run cover too the whole game. It's gonna be a time period with that guy's gonna be one on one, right, So you can't hide guys anymore, especially in this scheme, in this NFL.

So you know it's no running right, We're gonna find you eventually.

The top corner is gonna the top corner is gonna be a man probably fifty percent of the time, sixty percent of the time, so you're gonna be able to catch him.

Also, so the way this league is.

Going, there's no hiding, there's no you're gonna be found out. There's now there's seventeen weeks now, right, so you got seventeen weeks to be try to be consistent as possible, and eventually, you know you're gonna get beat in the NFL if you play corner.

You're going against these receivers. Yeah, it's gonna happen.

By the way, don't don't don't don't name names. I'm not gonna ask you to do that. I'm not put anybody on blast here. But have there been times with maybe due to injury or maybe just poor evaluation, where you've wind up and just gone like, man, this dude over here, we got no chance because they're gonna Ah.

Definitely, you know, definitely, you know we had sometimes when to leave left, but it was definitely hard, you know, once he moved on.

But you know I had, I went through a string of corners, you know.

But I won't say that they didn't have the technique or or I would say they were just you know young.

You know, I'm kind of throwing the fire and still needed some more work.

Some guys, don't, you know, they don't come in the league, you know, all rookie team.

You know, it doesn't happen like that.

Sometimes they need about three or four years to get that, and you know, not everybody gets that opportunity to get those years of development, right. So I was luckily to have guys that wanted to work and wanted to get better. But you know, they weren't there out all the way, you know, as a playmaker yet.

So now they're doing now I see him, Now, they're doing a lot better.

You know, they're you know a lot of those guys I played with there, you know, are doing pretty well.

You know, Isaac Adam, he's a guy.

You know, he struggled a little bit with me at when Denver you go, I was with him with the Saints. I see how much he improved, and he just got a nice deal with the forty nine ers and I'm pretty sure he's gonna make an impact on that team to get back to the super.

Bowl this year. So he's a he's a guy right there.

I would say that that started in raw, but he wanted it and he continued to improve as his career continued.

Okay, Chris, I'm gonna say this, like having known you and got to know you, you strike me as one of those best.

It's kind of like the best that you encountered.

So when I was in Kansas City, my best were dal Carter, James Hasty and those guys, and they were Mark McMillan. They were very demanding on me as the dime coming in. They would say, hey, man, you know where the balls going, It's going to you. You got to hold up your end of the deal. And so it strikes me that Brian Dawkins and Champ Baby put

No, oh man, because they already had a high standard. We already know like it's Hall of Fame. So ain't no talking back, Ain't no saying.

No, I don't want to do this, right. You just gotta fall in line, right. And I was luckily that we had meetings with no coaches. Right.

So I'm sitting there, I get a whole hour every day for a full season to steady film and watch film with no coaches with be Dark and Champ and Andre Goodman.

Right, that's a dream come true as a corner right as the dB.

So you know that was it was very important for those guys to set the standard to also give me so much confidence, right, they struck so much, They gave me so much confidence.

Hey, we believe in you. We know you can play.

When you get out there, just make sure you ready. We love your competitives, competitiveness. I'm telling Coach Fox. They're telling Coach Fox to.

Throw me in right.

So now when I have vets telling them telling the coaches to put me in that, my confidence is off the roofs now.

I'm about to go really now.

Not only am I about to go play hard for the team, but I'm about to go play extra hard for these guys because they put their they stuck their neck out for me, so as an undrafted guy. So you know, that was my mindset and that kind of has to be a mindset for all the vets right come in. You know, try to give them as much

A mentor towards me for sure.

Today.

So I was telling you about my VID James Hasty. So, Chris, if you can imagine, we wouldn't meet on Tuesdays.

He would come in at nine o'clock. He said, Buck, you need to be at eight o'clock and at eight o'clock. From eight o'clock to nine o'clock. We're playing Seattle this week. We have Joey Galloway.

I want you to study him, and I want you to give me a report on Joey Galloway by the time I get here.

That's the kind of demand that he put on me.

And much like you talked about those guys going to bath for you for coach Fox, he did the same thing for me when it came to Gunther and Marty Schottenheimer.

When it comes to your preparation process, and this is more.

Of a defensive back question, what are the things that you're looking for on tape to get you ready to play against a high level wide receiver?

Yeah, oh man, you're looking at of course, you want to look at his route tendency. You know where he likes to line up, where his splits is if it's run, is he and what does he do with his hands as they relax or if it's run, if his past is it getting his hands ready to make it is grit is ready. He's more in his stance things like that where he likes to run his breaks. You know a lot of receivers, you know it was a lot

Like he run a lot of a lot of his routes. You could stop on that first route.

It was the second roup, right, same thing with a b you know, Big Ben buying extra time.

He could bam. He's in that second round. He's pretty much unstopped.

The first route is already tough to stop these guys, but now they get a second roup. So you know you're you're you're studying everything right. And the nickel I had to study motions, stacks, bunches, you know, covering on the run, different splits in the slot.

Uh, you know, covering tight everything right.

I was since playing nickel and playing I was one of the guys that was playing corner and then third downs having to go inside. So I had to look at bait my outside receivers tons, all those routes from the X and a Z get back to the slot.

Now, I gotta know everything to slot the tight ends. Who's coming in here is running. So I had kind of like a double.

What you say, double film study, I would say, because I wasn't just watching the left side. Hey, I'm just gonna watch the left side. Let's see every route that he ab runs on the left side. No, that's not what I had. I had to know every route that this guy ran all over the field. Right, And when you have those responsibilities, right, we have to be very precise in our film watching.

We can't wait till the end. Right. I would have to study on I would probably have to.

Be going over first downs, probably that Monday, so that Monday I need to know all the first down quick game all.

I need to know all that on Monday because I have.

So much that I have information that I have to bring in from outside and the inside.

So I have to study a little bit more extra. So I would start my.

Preparation on Mondays working first down, past play action, quick game, second second. On my Tuesday, you know, I'm still Now I'm really working on their their deep plays.

Right, what are the deep shots that they won throughout this season?

Right?

And big?

They're big plays that they've been successful on. Now I'm going through that. I need to know what plays could have hurt me if I'm in this coverage, if they might they love to run this versus coverage, if I may cover for.

Okay, what's the best route? Oh, I'm getting a post right here.

Right.

We know it's coming with this team, if I get this alignment. So it's just different things that you have. I would have to break it down every day right in some like you what y'all do, right, how y'all study the draft guys, right, but you know on Thursdays, you know, third down, red zone, I'm having to learn all that. I have to communicate a lot in the red zone with the linebackers and the safeties in the corner. So I got to make sure I know my responsibility for all these guys.

So it's a full long work it's a full on work schedule, you know.

And being able to that was my kind of study, which I don't think everybody kind of prepares. Like everybody's different and they have their own way of preparing for a game. But that's what worked for me, and I had to I couldn't procrastinate in my studying because I had so much I had to know on Monday, and my teammates were counting on me to kind of tell them a lot of things too. You know, hey, this

That was my philosophy.

So every day, man, every day, you had to have something to really master to be able to go out there and play well.

Well. There's so much that goes into playing that position and playing it well. And one of the things that we've discussed over the years, and I love to get your thoughts on it, just from when you entered the league, Chris, to where it is now, the importance of tackling with all the reduced splits you see week in and week out, and I think McVeigh probably was the champion of that and what they did and now the copycat league you

Gonna be hard, you know.

You know, they might give up a couple of yards, a lot of a lot of yat now, which is hard, and that kills the team. Yack kills the the hitting yard just kills the defense. Now in today's game, right, the yards have to catch now because now you're getting a lot more bubbles, a lot of shovel passes, a lot of quick throws.

So those yak stuff add up.

At the end of the game, we have one hundred yards and yeat yards have to catch, you know, And usually that happens because your team can't tackle right your second day struggling with tackling, and that's it's you got to be able to tackle nowadays, Daniel, Because I.

Mean, these these.

Corners now and right there, I would say they're pretty physical. I've seen some physical but you might have one you know what, was a guy from Clemson. He didn't like to tackle, but his coverage skills is.

Off the charge.

Yea Wigans. Wigans is a great example. He's a tough one for us to scout because when he if he was coming out in two thousand and three, he'd have been a top ten pick because it's long and fluid and fast and ranging, can play the ball and all those things. But then it's like, well, this is the tackling component now, like you're gonna get brought into run fits, You're gonna have to defend against these quick hitters and

Yes, because now we got to see these guys can they get off how they know what I mean. We always have to see if guys can get off blocks, but we really got to see it now, right because it's a lot of screens, it's a lot of bubbles, it's a lot of perimeter plays that are happening quick plays, right, and you.

Got to be able to get off the block. You got to be able to tackle.

And what I've seen last last year was probably one of the worst tackling seasons in the NFL from what I've seen. I don't know what the numbers are, but I know the mistackles were hot, right even just watching Denver, right, I know they probably you know, that's probably one of the highest years of mistackles we've ever had, you know. So that's what I'm seeing around the league, is that the fundamentals of that And that's just because now we're

But you know, and they didn't learn proper form.

They just learned how to just kill somebody, you know, not they learn how to wrap up alligated tackle or things like that. So that's what I'm seeing right now. Maybe y'all can go look up the stats and give me.

To me one day. But the mis tackles were very high last year.

Yeah, it's funny you talk about like the mis tackles and the things about like being able to get people down in space in one on one. Well, I want to I want to hit you with this because I think it's one of the things. It's a term that we use in scouting. That thing maybe is overused. So when I tell you someone is a shut down corner, what traits do you have to be a shut down corner?

Yeah, oh, man, eliminating your guy, you know, trying to being able to eliminate them. And in college those guys should be able to you know, watching those if they're elite guy, they should be able to eliminate their guy, right, especially in the college game.

But in the league, you know, it's really a shutting down. Shutting down a receiver in the league is.

Hey, Justin Jefferson had fifty yards today, right, or you know it's not. It's damn near impossible to keep these guys from getting catches. Now with the way that the schemes are, they can scheme the guys open.

They're moving them around all over the field, you know, and.

They can find a way to get the guy a couple catches, right, bubbles, you know, you know, shovel screens. There's ways the office can get you involved, now, right, So shutting the guy down to fifty, you know, fifty

How many touchdowns are you giving up? You know what I mean? We got to look at everything, you know, as a corner.

You sitting in the locker with the USA today talking about, No, this dude down corner.

I'm looking at all the stats. I'm not giving him.

I'm not giving him that.

Moniker, because the numbers don't justify what the label it.

Like Derek Stingly, people.

Didn't realize this guy was a shutdown corner last year, right, y'all.

Missing his status and what he did just because you know, of course you got a.

Rookie quarterback that was great last year. But this man put up great numbers. That's why I said he really had an all Pro year last year when.

You look at him. But you know, that's just that just happens. Man. You gotta do sometimes you got to.

Go above and beyond as a shutdown corner of the show what you can do.

And right now, I would say the top guys.

You know, I love a certain but I think certain hand probably needs to take it up to another level because I think he can't take it up another level right to be a true you know on the levels with a lot of our era guys, know the reeves, the Shermans to leave, you know, Pat p I think they're almost to that level, but they're they're they're knocking on the door, right.

The same thing with Sauce.

I think they're knocking on the door because I think still needs to get those picks right.

He's catch the gun, but yeah, it's.

Covering you know Sherman. You know Sherman two point oh.

You know that's Sharon, right, I call him baby Sharon, but without the hands because one thing Sar did he had ball.

Skills, right, is gonna get the ball. So I love those two guys. Stinglee.

I love the guy, uh Kansas City, probably one of the great great Nicholas coming through.

Now mcdey's man, he's the best. He might be the best, just pure cover guy, like if you're gonna go, yeah, I love he might be the best.

And my fifth corner I would probably say I loved it. I gotta keep Oz in there, so I'm gonna keep Ramsey in there. Right he's still playing, still playing all and uh, still making plays.

I love his game.

So uh, but if I want to put a younger guys, take out Ramsey. Now, I'll put the guy from Chicago because I love his game.

Johnson's gonna be Yeah, he's gonna be a nice player, man, I love his game.

Those would be the top five guys pretty much that last year.

That was very consistent.

Yeah, Johnson just got himself a twenty million a year, so he got he got rewarded for Oh yeah, uh, I've kept you. We both kept you long here, but we could go on forever here Chris, So this is the last question, most important question. I'm gonna we're gonna have a three on three basketball game. Your one, right,

Oh, Joe, m B and b oh we got We're going MVP man O yeah, O p over for Pierce over truth and unstoppable, unstoppable when he is healthy. I'm going with NB uh because just because you know, I got to see him being at Kansas.

Uh. But if we were going somebody in my air, it was Brandon Rush. You know. I came in with be Rush. So those are my guys.

So so now you gotta get you. You gotta be firm on your squad because Bucky went to Carolina. I'm gonna give Bucky a chance to do it. I think you got.

Michael Jordan's.

No shot, no shot, no shot to pick.

The truth now man that defend Jordan.

I'm gonna go with uh it be and then basketball if it has to be NFL teammate, Yeah, NFL team, NFL teammate, man, I don't to leave to leave, can hoop?

I'm gonna go with to.

Leave Okay, all right, yeah against him.

But it's gonna be a fighting pick up because Chris and talk the whole time. We're not gonna be able to get anything off because it's gonna get personal and we be able to squad and he has Paul Chris with him's gonna talk crazy and reckless get anything done obviously, like in North Carolina, so many choices, but you gotta take the go so you can take Michael Jordan and then for a teammate, uh from my NFL days, I'm

Yeah, I'm gonna playing. I'm playing came on Tony man, and we'll find a way. We're gonna have to try to double team Jordan when we can. Man, we gotta figure out a way.

See, but I know you guys, y'all gonna put to Jordan rules, so like y'all gonna follow.

Him real.

Any change any brings into the gym, he can't. He gotta come.

No jewelry because keep it's gonna take.

So we're just gonna make your.

Head out throw it down in the m B m B B j out Man, that's true.

I don't think they have anybody to match up with m B download Chris. I think that's that's your shot right there. Man, Hey, this is a fun way to end it. Man, this has been an awesome conversation. It is uh, it's always it's always a joy to visit with you. And for real, like, we have so much respect for you for your career, all you accomplished. I mean, just an unbelievable, unbelievable player and as everybody can tell by listening, it's just awesome dude. Man, So we appreciate you. Man.

Oh yeah, no problem, man, thanks for having me. Man, it was fun.

Well, Buck, I I always enjoy getting a chance to visit with him. We've had a chance to be around him. I was around him when he was with the Chargers. We got a chance to know him. There probably an overused phrase, right, but just a true pro mm hm.

And like like a true pro. And what I love about the conversation is DJ heat. When you work in the scouting business, you have all these things where you talk about critical factors, the traits, and the things that you look for.

Chris Harris not embodies the trades that you.

Look for in those underdogs who can kind of make their way onto your squad. But I just loved how he described what he would look for in a teammate. And it always comes down to the same things. And so it just leads me to believe that you and I on the right path when it comes to the guys that make it and the guys that don't, and how you build a team, Like when he talks about dogs and super competitive people that love the game, that are willing to prepare the game and do all the

Yeah, and you know, I go back to just how competitive he is. That was something that just jumped through the screen. We're visiting with him, and I go back as well too. If you're an undrafted player, it's probably a good rule of thumb for any player, but particularly an undrafted player. You better know everything. You get no room for air in terms of mental mistakes. You better know everything, and you better be willing to do anything. You know. Special teams, gunner, you know what do you need?

Yeah.

I think that's what it is.

And I think you have to be ready for everything, and is one of the things that you want to convey to young players or young guys that are entering the.

League, like how this is an ASP league.

There's an urgency that you must carry yourself with to be able to really make the team and make contributions very early in your career. Chris talked about that, talked about his process with being able to have it. But it's just really important that you kind of understand that once you move up to the big leagues, you better be on go and ready to go at any time to do anything, because that's how you make it in this league.

For the I no doubt, great, great conversation, Great to visit with him. Hope you guys enjoyed that. We will have a few more podcasts coming your way this week. We'll get a chance to get in a little bit of that preview mode as we get a little bit closer to the season, so I have a chance to break down some of these teams, some of these divisions. We'll have that come in your way if you're on the lookout for that the rest of the week. But that's going to do it for us today. I hope