Name: Taj Harris
Position: Wide receiver
Year: (Redshirt) Sophomore
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 175 lbs.
Hometown: Beverley, N.J.
High School: Palmyra
2018 stats: After playing sparingly for the Syracuse Orange in the season’s opening weeks, Harris came on strong from the Clemson game and pushed his way into the starting lineup from there. He had 40 catches for 565 yards and three scores, while breaking SU freshman records for receptions and receiving yards.
2019 projections: Harris will start once again on the outside, and with an offense more tailored to the deep ball and Tommy DeVito’s arm, we could see a huge uptick in stats for year two. Given his great hands and expert route-running already, you’d be forgiven for expecting him to just break every program receiving record by the time he’s done at Syracuse.
How’d he get here?: Rutgers was interested for a long time, but then Taj decided he wanted to win some football games, and play in an actual offense, so he headed to SU. NC State, Temple and Maryland (among others) also offered him.
What’d recruiting sites say?: Three stars from everyone.
Money Quote: We said this last year too, but Dino Babers needs to put this quote on shirts, bumper stickers and everywhere else. Harris, when he committed —
“Syracuse is Wide Receiver U. They just throw the ball a lot and that’s something I would like to get into.”
Twitter feed: @jadinzaki
Tweets of wonder: Given the quality of athlete that Babers brings into Syracuse, there’s seemingly always chatter around guys playing for the basketball team as well. It’s yet to happen, but it still lends to fun ideas like this.
Taj Harris said that if Donovan McNabb can play two sports at Syracuse so can he. But he might not be the best basketball player on the football team: https://t.co/duu3BctNtG pic.twitter.com/xe9BFPosI8
— Daily Orange Sports (@DOsports) October 24, 2018
What movie would Dino recommend for him?: Dino’s certainly not someone that watches Van Wilder. But “Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj” could probably yield a few laughs here and there. Maybe. I don’t know... Kal Penn’s probably better in dramas than comedies (though his arc on “How I Met Your Mother” wasn’t bad at all).
Interesting nugget o’interest: Obviously it’s important to sell players on the university, football program and coach. But for some, Mom’s opinion is the one that matters most. Back in the fall, Harris shared that one of the biggest reasons why he’s at Syracuse because his mom loves the school.
Let’s get a look at ya: Any time you can get the conference highlight reel treatment, you know you had a good season.