Hitting Hard with Chris Harris

I recently had an opportunity to sit down with heavy hitter and pro tweeter Chris Harris. Here are the highlights of our conversation.

First off, your tweets have gotten quite a bit of attention. Is that really you tweeting?

Absolutely, I do it from my Blackberry. I have been more active lately, but its me.

Good to know. How would you compare Ron Meeks to Mike Trgovac? What about Meeks and Lovie Smith?

I love Trgo, he was a good defensive coach. Meeks is a little more laid back from Trgo. The scheme is less complicated than when Trgo was here. Meeks and Lovie both were calm in their approach and both rely heavily on the defensive front four. It all starts up front in their defenses.

Speaking of front four, we have lost ours. Any concerns going into next season?

Yes, for me. I feel we have some good young players, but it might hurt not having a single defensive line starter returning. But we do have some good young guys. I think Charles Johnson will have to step up as well as Everette Brown. Lewis Leonard showed a flash before he got hurt that he could be a really good player. Tank Tyler and Nick Hayden are not proven but they are good young players that can step up.

How will those changes effect open competition this year?

There will probably be more open competition this year with the guys being cut or released. There will be huge competition at the strong side linebacker with Nai’l Diggs being released, between James Anderson and Dan Connor. The d-line is wide open. Plus you have Sherrod Martin and Charles Godfrey both looking to start at free safety.

How would you compare Martin and Godfrey?

Their games are very similar, they are both ranging safeties with good ball skills that can cover sideline to sideline. They can both make plays. The only difference is Charles has a little more experience, this being his third year. But when Sherrod had his chance in there he had three games and three interceptions, so there is a guy that made the most of his opportunity, which I think speaks volumes with the way he prepares.

What do you think is the motivation for all of these changes this offseason?

What they say is that they want to go younger and they feel we have some young players that can play. If that’s what they want to do, the players like me, Beason, Thomas are going to have to step up and play a bigger leadership role. We lost two captains on our team in Delhomme and Julius Peppers. Jordan Gross and guys like that are going to have to step up into a leadership role.

Do you think these changes are coming down from the top or from coaching?

I am pretty sure its coming down from the very top. More than likely. I don’t work in that front office but if I had to say, it would be from the very top.

Would you prefer to get an interception or force a fumble?

To me, I would say causing a fumble because I love to hit, that’s one thing I take pride in. To me a fumble is a little more than a take away, you kind of build a reputation. You become known as a hitter and disruptor. A physical player. I love interceptions, but I prefer forcing fumbles.

Do you keep a mental list of hard hits you have administered?

I keep up with some of the big hits, I like to be known as a heavy hitter. When we played the Chargers in the 08 season I had a pretty nasty hit on Ladanian Thomlinson. Exactly one play before he ran to our sideline and I kind of eased up and he came into me. He didn’t knock me down but he game me a little somethin somethin. I hit him back the very next play.

So if you were GM for a day, what needs would you address in the draft?

I would probably say defensive line since we have lost a lot of linemen. I would look at wide receiver also with losing a veteran player in Moose.

Any advice for Peppers on the Chicago scene?

They are going to be on you. The media here is no where close to the media in Chicago as far as how much coverage the football team gets. You got 12-15 reporters there every single day, and thats just the local media. So pretty much be careful with what you say out there, everything is under the microscope.

Does seeing Chicago on the schedule give you any extra motivation?

Yes… Absolutely. I always look forward to playing them. Ever since I was traded in 07, that left a bad taste in my mouth. I love the city, love the players, but it just left a bad taste. But to get traded, I kind of got blind sided. I didn’t see it coming, I don’t think anybody did. So I am always up to playing them. I was talking to Brian Urlacher just the other day via text, so yeah I will be ready to play them.