Running back Cam’Ron Harris scores a touchdown in the 2023 XFL North Division Championship game. (ESPN)
A collective shiver went through the D.C. Defender fanbase last week when it was reported that RB Abram Smith was going to be out for the season due to a torn ACL. Smith, after all, was the bell-cow back of a first-place rushing offense that out-gained the second-place team by more than 400 yards.
How would D.C. replace Smith’s production in the first year of the UFL? Would they try to sign an established rusher to take over Smith’s role? Or maybe make a big splash, acquiring someone in a trade? Would they use a committee approach rather than rely on one back to carry the load?
Turns out, the Defenders may have their answer already on the roster. In speaking to the media on Tuesday, Head Coach Reggie Barlow said he expected Cam’Ron Harris, who signed with the team just prior to the final week of the regular season last year, to take over Smith’s lead-back role.
“We believe Cam Harris has the ability,” Barlow said. “We believe that he can be the guy that can do it.” Harris was on his way to being yet another Miami Hurricane drafted into the NFL when a knee injury in October of 2021 ended his season prematurely. To that point, he was in his second year as a starter for the Canes, averaging 5.8 yards per carry.
Despite the injury, and despite having one year of college eligibility remaining, Harris declared for the NFL Draft two months after getting hurt. He went unselected in the draft and couldn’t work out for teams as he continued his rehab. A year after the injury, Harris resurfaced in a workout with the Carolina Panthers, though he didn’t sign.
Looking to get his football career back on track, and fully healed from the injury, Harris signed with the Seattle Sea Dragons in February 2023. He was released in final cuts. A spot opened up late in the season on the Defenders roster when RB Ryquell Armstead was let go. Harris didn’t carry the ball in the regular season finale, but in the semi-final playoff game, Harris scored two touchdowns on five rushes against his former team, the Sea Dragons. It was a taste of what he could do with more time in the backfield.
Barlow indicated the Defenders had their eye on Harris for some time, dating back to when XFL teams began building their rosters for the 2023 season. “He was actually one of our top backs last year when this whole process started,” Barlow said. “(He) was a guy we really, really liked. He was coming off an injury, so that kind of set him back.”
D.C. currently has four running backs in camp and will likely keep only three to start the season. The most recent addition is former Birmingham Stallion ZaQuandre White, signed to take Smith’s place on the active roster. Barlow clearly did his homework on White, rattling off his football biography from the top of his head when speaking about White to reporters. “Just a really good skill set running the ball with power inside. He can also run outside, he’s got speed,” said Barlow. “He’s what we call one of those one-stepper guys that gets vertical.”
Darius Hagans and Pooka Williams round out the position room, and they bring different talents to the table. “Darius Hagans is a guy who has continued to develop. He’s a big back. He’s a guy that can run.” As for Williams, Barlow noted the more a player can do, the harder it can be to cut them. And Williams can do a lot.
“The room that you’re in may say ‘running back room,’ but we know that you can easily go out and be a receiver in the slot, you can do some things outside of running back,” Barlow said in recounting a conversation he had with Williams “You can be a punt returner, kick returner. That goes to the other thing we were talking about, who stays and who goes. It’s guys in those types of situations that can do multiple things (that can help their cause).”
Ultimately, while talent remains at the position for the Defenders, it appears it will be Cam’Ron Harris time. “We do feel good about Cam Harris,” said Barlow. Defenders fans hope they’ll be able to feel good about him too once the games begin.
