Breaking Down What Thomas Harper Brings To The Notre Dame Defense
Harper #Harper
A look at what former Oklahoma State defensive back Thomas Harper brings to the Notre Dame defense
Lost in the news about Notre Dame landing the best transfer portal quarterback on the market this year was the addition of former Oklahoma State defensive back Thomas Harper. Landing Harper didn’t bring much fanfare, but after studying his film it’s clear that this was a very important pickup for Notre Dame.
BACKGROUND
Harper signed with Oklahoma State out of Knoxville (Tenn.) Karns as part of the 2019 class. According to Knox News, Harper was an all-district and all-region player in his final season. More of a receiver in high school, Harper racked up 80 catches for 1,279 yards and 18 touchdowns as a senior. Defensively, he registered 155 tackles, broke up 16 passes and had three interceptions.
Harper earned immediate action as a true freshman for the Cowboys, playing in 12 games, earning 71 snaps on defense and 61 snaps on special teams (according to Pro Football Focus). The Tennessee native made 13 tackles and a tackle for loss that season. As a sophomore, Harper played in all 11 of Oklahoma State’s games and he played a career-high 434 snaps and made 30 tackles, broke up three passes and intercepted another.
Harper played in 12 games as a junior in 2021, missing a game against Kansas and the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame. During that season he made 20 tackles, had 1.5 tackles for loss and broke up a pass.
During his final season with the Cowboys, Harper played just seven games due to a shoulder injury. Despite the limited playing time he tied his career-high with 30 tackles, had 1.5 tackles for loss, broke up two passes and had an interception.
For his career, Harper played 1,170 career defensive snaps (PFF), 288 special teams snaps (PFF), made 93 tackles, had five tackles for loss, picked off two passes and broke up six more.
SKILLSET/STRENGTHS
Harper has solid size at 5-11 and 180 pounds. He’s a bit thin but he’s solidly built and he’s strong for his size. He’s certainly a willing tackler, and when he stays under control he’s a very good tackler. Harper was very good in space as a tackler the last two seasons.
Athletically, Harper shows good speed and impressive foot quickness. He can plant and drive downhill in a hurry, which is important for both the nickel and safety positions. Harper closes on routes and on the ball carrier in space, which is very important for a space. In coverage, Harper shows relatively fluid hips and clean transition ability, which makes him effective in man coverage and allows him to cover a lot of ground playing the alleys and when getting over the top in zone coverage.
Harper has clean technique, possessing efficient footwork and coverage technique. At times he’ll get a bit grabby in transitions up the seam, but outside of that his technique is efficient and crisp. Harper also shows very good route recognition, especially when playing backside. He reads routes quickly, takes good angles to the football and takes away throwing lanes relatively well.
A key to being an effective slot defender is being able to take on the run and handling perimeter screens. A key ingredient to success there is tackling, which as discussed above Harper is good with. The other key is being able to keep contain and be able to play with the proper leverage to force the runners and receivers back inside and not allowing the defense to get out-leveraged on the perimeter. This is an area where I was very impressed with Harper on film.
Harper doesn’t get his hands on the ball a ton, but he did have one more break up than TaRiq Bracy had this past season, and did that in four less games.
Full disclosure, I only watched film of Harper as a senior, as that is the most recent, and most relevant film. So I can’t speak to how he played in the previous seasons.
NOTRE DAME FIT
Harper fits into multiple roles on the Notre Dame defense, and he certainly brings a great deal of special teams experience to the roster. With Bracy leaving after having an outstanding final season, Notre Dame had a major need for a slot defender. There is no heir apparent on the current roster, and Harper will be given an opportunity to step into that starting spot.
As you’ll see below, Notre Dame can do a lot with Harper that it couldn’t do with Bracy in regard to moving him around the defense. If another player takes over the slot position you could see Harper battle for serious minutes at safety. He can also be part of the safety rotation in packages or in games where the Irish aren’t going with a nickel package.
Harper’s background playing on a variety of special teams units should also fit well with what Notre Dame asks of its defensive backs.
NICKEL/SLOT
Harper has played more snaps in the slot the last two seasons than anywhere else, and in 2022 it wasn’t even close. Even in snaps where he ended up deep you would see Harper begin in the slot, which I’ll explain below.
Where he can provide the most immediate benefit, based on what we saw from him at Oklahoma State, is in the slot role that Bracy filled the last two seasons. It was his base position with the Cowboys, although how they used him was quite different than how Notre Dame used Bracy.
Here’s the base slot alignment.
From this alignment, Harper is asked to ride vertical routes, play the flats, drop into hook-curl zones, to take on perimeter runs and screens, and to play man coverage against No. 2 and No. 3 receivers to a side. This is very similar to the way Notre Dame used Bracy this past season and Harper has plenty of experience with this role.
Here’s another way he’ll play in the nickel spot.
As you can see, Harper is further off the ball. At the snap he’ll do one of three things. He’ll come downhill and play the alley in a zone defense, he’ll play man coverage either straight up or as part of a pattern match coverage with the No. 1 and No. 2 receivers.
Here’s a look at when Harper is backside/weakside of the defense.
On this particular snap he filled the B Gap backside. He can also play the alley (dotted line) if there is action to his side either with a run look, a reverse look or a frontside under or drag route.
SAFETY HELP
Harper was used almost exclusively as a nickel player, but Oklahoma State moved him a lot more than how Notre Dame used Bracy, which I said above. Below are examples, and these are snaps where Harper was the nickel but lined up in other spots.
On this particular snap he’s to the tight end side but away from the two receiver side. Oklahoma State goes with a two-high safety look and Harper is being tasked with playing the field safety look. From here he can play over the top in a Cover 2 look, he can help protect against the post or he can play quarters.
Here’s another example from the off man alignment that we saw above.
In theory Harper could play off man against the slot receiver, but on this particular play he plays Cover 2 and flies over top towards the sideline to provide over the top help to the outside cornerback.
Here’s an example of Harper playing the middle of the field.
As you can see from these clips, Oklahoma State used Harper much differently as a nickel player than Bracy. He can certainly play how Bracy played, but this versatility allows Al Golden to do a lot of different things with him. It gives Notre Dame far greater flexibility out of its nickel package and allows the Irish to better handle motions and better handle tempo from an alignment standpoint.
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