He enrolled in the summer of 2016, but even then there were skeptics. “When I first got here,” he said, “a lot of guys didn’t think I was on scholarship. A lot of guys thought I was a walk-on, just because of my size.”
But soon there was good news. Though Harris had every expectation of redshirting as a freshman, he found out otherwise shortly before the team’s season opener vs. Rutgers.
Chris Strausser, Washington’s offensive line coach at the time, “sat me down at the end of fall camp and said, ‘You had a great camp as a freshman and you competed with our starting defense. I think you can help us out early out this season, rotating with some of these guys.’
“Having the possibility of playing,” Harris said, “I was like, sure. I wasn’t going to not take that opportunity.”
One of four true UW freshmen to play against Rutgers, Harris ended up seeing action in 12 of the team’s 14 games that season, splitting time between left guard and right guard. He also started four of the last seven games, including the Pacific-12 Championship game against Colorado and the College Football Playoff semifinal against Alabama.
In 2017 he started all 13 games at right guard and played well enough to be an All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection. He has likewise started every game this season except vs. North Dakota, which he missed due to injury.