Denver Harris, SEC Football Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports
Among the most talented players to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal out of the SEC football conference entering the 2023 offseason is the former elite five-star Houston-area cornerback recruit and Texas A&M Aggies freshman Denver Harris. The North Shore High School product elected to enter the transfer portal after he was suspended indefinitely from Texas A&M earlier in the season.
Harris was one of the most highly sought after recruits in the 2022 class. He was essentially an unanimous five-star cornerback recruit in every composite ranking from the major recruiting services (ie Rivals, 247Sports, ESPN, etc.).
He had offers from more than 40 schools out of high school. Harris wound up picking Texas A&M over other finalist schools such as the Texas Longhorns, LSU Tigers, and Alabama Crimson Tide.
But Harris didn’t last long with the Aggies before he entered the portal this fall. Harris took just over 200 defensive snaps over the course of only five games during the regular season with the Aggies. After Texas A&M’s close loss to Alabama in Week 6, Harris would be suspended indefinitely by head coach Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies along with a couple of other freshmen with the program.
That likely played a big role in Harris deciding to put his name in the portal, amid a few other issues he faced off the field this year.
Potential landing spots out of the portal for SEC football CB transfer Denver Harris
With that in mind, here’s a look at three possible destinations out of the portal for Harris in 2023.
5-star CB Denver Harris brings size, speed, technique, and physicality to the field. Bama, Texas, LSU, and TAMU are the major contenders for his commitment pic.twitter.com/yIcWtfVhFt
— Adam Friedman (@RivalsFriedman) December 6, 2021
LSU
One of the more active programs in the portal since the window opened on Dec. 5 is the LSU Tigers. Amid an offseason where first-year head coach Brian Kelly and LSU are likely to experience some pretty heavy roster attrition, Harris seems like the type of talent that this staff would want to add out of the portal.
The main question concerning whether Kelly and the Tigers would legitimately consider taking Harris has to do with the off-the-field issues he faced in the last few months. Kelly is trying to establish a new culture in that locker room in Baton Rouge, and they would have to evaluate the fit for Harris with the new direction of the program.
Yet, there’s no questioning the level of talent that Harris brings to the table. He would be a difference-maker for an LSU secondary that is still building heading into the offseason.
It’s worth noting that Harris was one of the highest-graded freshman cornerbacks in the Power Five through the first half of the regular season.
Moreover, LSU was a program that showed a lot of interest in Harris out of high school. It’s also close to home for the East Texas native. If the culture fit checks out for Harris and the Tigers, Baton Rouge definitely makes sense as a possible destination for the former Texas A&M corner.
