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Harrison: 'I feel like I'm the best nose tackle in football'


BurnleyJet

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CALDWELL, N.J. -- To understand why Jets nose tackle Damon Harrison is able to speak this way, one must first pull a graveyard shift at the WalMart in Lake Charles, La.

Seven years ago, Harrison was hauling mammoth bags of cat and dog food and stocking them in shelves after he was cut by a junior college football team. It was a promotion from the cosmetics department.

Now, he's universally viewed as one of the best nose tackles in football. According to Harrison, he is the best.

"If you would have asked me after my first year starting about how I am as a player, I would have given you a humble answer. Not too confident but humble," Harrison told Around The NFL on Tuesday following a training session at Parabolic Performance & Rehabilitation. "But when you ask me now, I feel like I'm the best nose tackle in football. If you look at a nose tackle's job description, nobody does it better than me and I'm confident in saying that.

"I've watched Vince Wilfork my entire life. Dontari Poe, Haloti Ngata even though he moves around. Paul Soliai, I watch everyone because you can always take something from someone. But it's my time now."

Harrison will be one of the more interesting cases in free agency this offseason. The Jets nose tackle is playing this season under a $2.356 million restricted free agent tender, but could find himself in a buyer's market come March. As the league transitions back into a power-oriented game, nose tackles will see a bump in value despite relatively low snap counts. At 33, Vince Wilfork signed a two-year deal with the Houston Texans worth $9 million. More than half the money was guaranteed.

Helping Harrison is the fact that the Jets did not undergo a dramatic change in defensive principles this offseason. A shift from Rex Ryan to Todd Bowles is merely a change in terminology. Their fronts look relatively similar. The only pressure on Harrison is to convert the language from one coach to another and, according to Harrison, Bowles' way of relaying his defense is a bit more black and white.

"It's the same schemes," he said. "I don't want to say it's the exact same, but it's the same scheme with different verbiage."

It's a good problem to have for a player once so firmly planted on the cut line. Seven years after WalMart and three years after his first NFL snap, he's ready to take another step.

Said Harrison: "Times have changed, man."

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000501549/article/harrison-i-feel-like-im-the-best-nose-tackle-in-football

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How the hell will we retain them all?  $$$$$$$$$$$$

 

Yeah, this is going to grow into a problem with all these D-lineman coming due.

 

Macc had a great off season this year, he'll have his work cut out next year.

 

Guess the best we can hope or is Williams, and Barnes leap forward.  

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Yeah, this is going to grow into a problem with all these D-lineman coming due.

Macc had a great off season this year, he'll have his work cut out next year.

Guess the best we can hope or is Williams, and Barnes leap forward.

We throw all the talent at Dline under REX, this was inevitable.

Time to say goodbye to one or two of these guys.

Sad but a reality.

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This is why we drafted that kid in the 7th round- Harrison is the one u let go- wish we could keep them all but next fatty up

 

Don't forget about the fatty T J Barnes that we still have on the roster.  Guys 6'7", came in last year at 400+.   Though he would wash real quick because of the weight.  Played real well last pre-season against scrubs, looked quick.....for a super fatty, and is still on the roster.

 

If this guy took the off season seriously, and comes in at a svelte 365 we might have a player there

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We throw all the talent at Dline under REX, this was inevitable.

Time to say goodbye to one or two of these guys.

Sad but a reality.

Well Macc seems to have done his part in getting some players in, guess it's time for the CPA :) , Jackie Davidson, to spin some numbers magic, and keep them here

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I, too, hope we do whatever it takes to hold onto the guy who doesn't even see the field on 3rd down.

 

I'd much rather lose one of the best NT in football and keep three guys at two positions, especially at 100 mil (or whatever) for two of them, one of them a pothead serving a four game suspension. That is what I want.

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I'd much rather lose one of the best NT in football and keep three guys at two positions, especially at 100 mil (or whatever) for two of them, one of them a pothead serving a four game suspension. That is what I want.

+1, finding a big fat guy to stop the run is pretty much impossible, but we can prob just sign some NAIA guy off the street to replace Wilk and or Sheldumb

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What I was saying is that you're already allocating two mega contracts PLUS the sixth pick in the draft to two positions and letting a very good player at a very important position walk. I don't think it's a good idea.

Great. He also performs a job that's not terribly important and can easily be done by someone else.

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