HTTV, David Harris, and Kenny Demens
I've seen many references to this in recent times, including when I was reading HTTV. There seems to be some sentiment around here that Kenny Demens is better than Obi Ezeh but he won't make anyone forget about David Harris. I'm kind of confused why people are down on Demens in that way. He's not Ray Lewis, but David Harris wasn't Ray Lewis, either.
As a junior, David Harris had 88 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, .5 sacks, 3 pass breakups, 1 fumble recovery, and 2 forced fumbles.
In a comparison of junior seasons, Kenny Demens had 94 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, and 2 pass breakups.
Those are pretty similar statistics, and while Harris did more in the turnover department, I'm not sure why people are insisting that David Harris was so much better. Demens still has a year to get to that level. He may or may not get there, but I don't think it's really a fair argument to compare the two careers right now.
To agree with you. Thanks for the response anyway. Flattered.....
Sorry, I couldn't tell...
If things go as planned Kenny should have a special sr year. I dont think people are down on him, they're just saying he more than likely won't be an All-American like David. Also let's not forget that one is currently a top 5 inside linebacker in the NFL and the other may never stick to an NFL roster...
But then again I don't run a prestigious blog like TTB..
Harris didn't win many accolades as a junior, either... He wasn't an All-American or All-Big Ten. His breakout year was as a senior.
EDIT: Also, it takes a special talent to run a blog as prestigious as mine. I'm expecting a Nobel Prize sometime in the next year or two...
Stay tuned. You may get the call.
You like the sound of that? Well, there's an eHow article on how to do it.
http://www.ehow.com/how_8665816_nominate-pulitzer-prize.html
It may be a case of nostalgia causing us to remember the good parts of the past at the expense of the bad, but to me, David Harris was the epitome of an NCAA linebacker who could read and react, shed blockers, and attack the ball-carrier with speed.
I think Demens is a good player too, but Lloyd Carr called David Harris the best middle linebacker he ever coached.
Clearly Lloyd Carr never coached Joe Bolden.
I look forward to Demens having a very solid senior season, followed by Joe Bolden taking over the job from 2013-2015.
They will need unbelievable play from the back seven this year IMO because of the huge losses on the line. A best case scenario sees Will Campbell having a monster year and the defense being a fast machine. More realistically they will probably struggle against the run but hopefully be solid against spread teams or teams that run more finesse offenses.
People tend to blend their memories in general, particularly as time goes on. I think the two main effects, are that people are thinking of Harris' successful NFL career and breakout senior season, and blending that with his solid junior season. Most fans can't recall the aptitude of player X in a given year several years ago (for example, it took looking back at some old game summaries for me to remember that I was really down on RVB his sophomore year, since I have such a good impression of him now).
Seems like there's a strong argument that both Harris and Demens had B+ junior years. Magnus -- you seem to think that Demens is in line for a breakout year, which is why you're comparing him to Harris. What do you see that makes you thnk this? Isn't it most likely that Demens more or less stays Demens (particularly without Martin or RVB in front of him), and continues to put up solid but unspectaular numbers.
I don't really think he's primed for a breakout year. I just don't see the evidence for people to say "He's nowhere close to what David Harris was" and I've seen that comment (or similar ones) pretty often lately. Well, at this point in his career, David Harris hadn't shown the ability to be The David Harris, either.
I do think Demens will improve with a second year in this system. Whether that means improving to 100 tackles and sticking around 5 TFLs or whether it's staying in the 90-ish range for tackles but making 14 TFLs, I don't know. But I'm not necessarily expecting a true "breakout" year. To me that breakout already occurred somewhat. Going from Honorable Mention All-Big Ten to, say, All-Big Ten doesn't seem to me like a monumental leap. It just seems like a standard level of improvement.
Kenny Demens doesn't look like Worf.
Joking aside, Harris was one of those guys who, to put it in Brian's words "always tackled people and never didn't tackle anyone." He never had any ESPN top 10 plays, but you don't need to do that as a middle linebacker.
Part of the Harris glamour is magnified by his illustrious NFL career thus far. Another part of this glamour is the romanticization of the 2006 season (there's projection of senior David Harris onto all-years David Harris).
Personally, I think Demens is in for a big year, especially given the state of the D-line. He needs an interception at some point.
Once you're stained by GERGs beaver, you're forever stained.
Speaking of Magnus and his blog....
Where's Mr Ragar?
August 5th, 2012 at 11:02 PM ^
You conclude by saying it is not fair to compare the two careers. Ironically that statement follows a comparison of just junior seasons which implies that you think it is legitimate to compare just junior seasons. Seems a bit inconsistent. Instead of saying it is not fair to compare, I think you meant it is not fair to compare Harris's full career to Demen's career to date.
August 6th, 2012 at 10:04 AM ^
I said it's not fair to compare the two careers "right now," meaning that Harris had a full college career and Demens has an incomplete one.
You get what I meant.
August 6th, 2012 at 10:30 AM ^
(this reply is now the front-page article)