College players in the NFL Draft get chosen. They don't get to choose. But for Alabama linebacker Christian Harris, it all worked out the way he wanted.
Harris, chosen in the third round (75th overall) by the Texans, met with Houston during the pre-Draft process, and was impressed by Head Coach Lovie Smith's 4-3 defensive scheme.
"I honestly fell in love with it," Harris said. "It's kind of tough because going through that whole process, like you can't pick where you go. But I knew if I were to come here, it would be the perfect fit for me."
Harris rang up 80 tackles for the Crimson Tide last fall, 11.5 of which were for a loss. He also had 5.5 sacks and forced a pair of fumbles. The 6-0, 226-pounder ran the 40-yard dash in a blazing 4.4 seconds at the Combine, and is already very familiar with several of his new Texans teammates.
In addition to playing at Alabama with second-rounder John Metchie, III, Harris shared a connection with a pair of other Texans defenders, one of whom was fellow Baton Rouge native Derek Stingley, Jr.
"He was on my 7-on-7 team, with the LA Bootleggers," Harris said. "So I've known him for a pretty long time. It's actually crazy that we get to team up on the same (NFL) team."
The connections don't stop there. In preparing for the NFL draft, he spent quite a bit of time with second-rounder Jalen Pitre.
"I trained with Pitre, too, at EXOS," Harris said. "We were talking about it and it be crazy if we were all on the same team at one point."
That point is now. The Texans have five picks remaining on the third day of the NFL Draft, which begins Saturday at 11 a.m. CT.
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