12-24-2022, 03:36 PM
Nyckoles Harbor is not the first high school football recruit to measure in at 6 feet 6 and 225 pounds. Nor is he the first recruit to run the 100-meter dash in 10.22 seconds.
But he might very well be the first to do both.
A five-star recruit from Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington D.C., the 17-year-old Harbor has an exceedingly rare combination of size and speed – wrecking havoc as an edge rusher on defense, a wide receiver on offense and a sprinter on the school's track team.
To get a better sense of just how unique Harbor is as a two-sport athlete, USA TODAY Sports compared him with four other star athletes – each of whom ran the 100- and 200-meter dash in high school, like Harbor, and played on the football team.
Three of those athletes – Tyreek Hill, Christian McCaffrey and Randy Moss – went on to excel in the NFL. The fourth, professional sprinter Erriyon Knighton, is an Olympian and world bronze medalist on the track.
"In high school, there’s no one (like him)," Harbor's longtime track coach Rafiu Bakare said. "You’d have to go back as far as Bo Jackson for that kind of size and fast twitch. And (Jackson) is still not as tall. So there’s no category you’re going to have that’s the same."
Archbishop Carroll's football coach Robert Harris, meanwhile, likened Harbor to NFL greats like Randy Moss, Derrick Brooks and Calvin Johnson.
Harbor, who won't turn 18 until the summer, has yet to commit to a college program and did not sign a national letter of intent when the early signing period opened Wednesday. Maryland, Michigan and South Carolina are among the top schools that have been vying for his signature.
https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/graphics/2022/12/23/nyckoles-harbor-compares-nfl-stars/10932445002/
But he might very well be the first to do both.
A five-star recruit from Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington D.C., the 17-year-old Harbor has an exceedingly rare combination of size and speed – wrecking havoc as an edge rusher on defense, a wide receiver on offense and a sprinter on the school's track team.
To get a better sense of just how unique Harbor is as a two-sport athlete, USA TODAY Sports compared him with four other star athletes – each of whom ran the 100- and 200-meter dash in high school, like Harbor, and played on the football team.
Three of those athletes – Tyreek Hill, Christian McCaffrey and Randy Moss – went on to excel in the NFL. The fourth, professional sprinter Erriyon Knighton, is an Olympian and world bronze medalist on the track.
"In high school, there’s no one (like him)," Harbor's longtime track coach Rafiu Bakare said. "You’d have to go back as far as Bo Jackson for that kind of size and fast twitch. And (Jackson) is still not as tall. So there’s no category you’re going to have that’s the same."
Archbishop Carroll's football coach Robert Harris, meanwhile, likened Harbor to NFL greats like Randy Moss, Derrick Brooks and Calvin Johnson.
Harbor, who won't turn 18 until the summer, has yet to commit to a college program and did not sign a national letter of intent when the early signing period opened Wednesday. Maryland, Michigan and South Carolina are among the top schools that have been vying for his signature.
https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/graphics/2022/12/23/nyckoles-harbor-compares-nfl-stars/10932445002/
