Teammates, Coaches Proud of Harris' Progression at Left Guard

With injuries limiting starter, Little Rock native given opportunity to earn playing time with season drawing near

Arkansas Razorbacks offensive lineman E'Marion Harris in drills on the indoor field in Fayetteville, Ark. / Andy Hodges-Hogs on SI Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — When E'Marion Harris signed with Arkansas as a member of the 2022 recruiting class, he was considered a priority target for Sam Pittman. He was the No. 274 ranked prospect, No. 24 amongst offensive tackles and No. 2 player in Arkansas.

Harris played sparingly throughout his first two seasons in Fayetteville as most young offensive linemen do early on in their college careers. His body and mindset have matured rapidly and now stands a rock solid 6-7, 300 pounds, thanks to strength coach Ben Sowders.

With the absence of Patrick Kutas at guard during fall camp, it has given Harris an opportunity to gain valuable reps with the one's going into the season. Defensive end Landon Jackson has battled the Little Rock native on several occasions and is impressed with him improvement.

"Yeah, it's [Harris'] mindset," Jackson said of Harris' improvement this offseason. "He came into this year with a different mindset than he previously had. He's willing and been working. He knows what he wants and he wants to play. He's tired of not playing."

"He's coming in working, working real hard every day. And I mean he's had a great fall camp. He's worked his way into running with the ones now. I definitely could see it sticking, because he's a really talented player with real good hands, real good feet, and he's putting on the weight. "

When Harris committed to Arkansas, he was around 370 pounds but played around 340 as a true freshman. He continued to transform his body and was down to 294 pounds during spring ball which might've been too light for a SEC offensive lineman.

"He went from being too heavy when he first got here to dropping like, 100 pounds," Jackson said. He got too light, and now he's starting to finally put on the weight. I think he's sitting right at 300. I feel like he's doing pretty good."

A similar sentiment was given from starting center and Tennessee transfer Addison Nichols who has played beside Harris at center throughout the past two weeks.

"He's had a fantastic camp," Harris said. "He's truly been unbelievable, really bought in. He's had great effort, great execution, and he's someone that you trust playing next to."

Perceived depth issues last season have bled into this fall despite Arkansas adding a trio of linemen with starting experience out of the transfer portal. Nichols believes Harris and his teammates are hungry to win and ready to fight at a high level this season.

"I feel like we have a room of guys that all want to win, play, bought in, and all can play at a very high level," Nichols said. "[Harris] is a great example of that, being able to fill a position that needed to be filled. He didn't ask any questions, didn't bat an eye but just came in and filled it beyond expectations and I am extremely proud of him."

It may be hard to keep Harris out of the lineup even if the starters remain healthy. Offensive line coach oozes with confidence about his third year lineman and how much he has improved over the past few months.

"By far the most improved player on this team, really in my room I should say," Mateos said after last Saturday's scrimmage. "[Harris'] level of play right now is extremely high. He had the best scrimmage probably of anybody in our room, probably him and Keyshawn Blackstock had their best scrimmages since I've been here and that was really fun to see.

"You see it in how he moves. He's got shoulders back, chest up, chin up. He's got confidence. He's gotten his weight back where he wants it. He's feeling strong. You're seeing the maturity of him being a third-year guy."

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