A look back
Harrison played in all but one game as a rookie, missing only the regular-season finale against the New Orleans Saints, which the Falcons lost. He was inactive due to a knee injury. Otherwise, Harrison took 342 defensive snaps in the 16 games he played. That turned out to be 32% of the work.
In total, Harrison made three sacks and 33 tackles in his debut season. He also had a pass breakup, four tackles for loss and five quarterback hits. He really started to shine later in the season, notching all three of his sacks in his final three games. That’s also when he had the pass breakup and the four tackles for loss. The five quarterback hits came in his final five games.
Harrison also spent time on special teams, taking 107 (25%) of those snaps.
What Harrison learned in 2023
Harrison’s statistics alone prove that he improved as his rookie season progressed, as he got more comfortable. To get into the nuances of those numbers, though, Falcons assistant head coach/defense Jerry Gray can help detail what Harrison learned in order to post those numbers. He was yet another person in charge who saw obvious growth in Harrison.
“Well, the hardest thing to do is stop the run,” Gray said. “Once he got past that, now you can see him like, ‘OK, I know how to stop the run. I’m long. I can use my arms to get off of blocks and make tackles. Now, the passing game on second and third down, I can go do that.’ And you can see that he’s actually getting better. We would love to see him get three or four sacks before the season’s over because that’s only going to help him grow for the next season.”
Mission accomplished with three.
Areas for improvement
There wasn’t really one specific area of Harrison’s game that was ever critiqued. It was more so getting him the experience he needed in order to operate at a faster, more consistent pace on the field. That came with time.
Now, the important thing for Harrison to do is build on that foundation in Year 2, being able to eliminate the transition period so he doesn’t need a few games or half a season to find his groove again.
“You already have the knowledge of what we’re doing here. Not a lot is going to change,” Nielsen said. “Then, hey, let’s take the next step and let’s go from there when you’re bigger, faster, stronger. So, now, mentally, he’s not hearing it for the first time, the second time. He’s…
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