During this past offseason, Christian Harris signed with the Atlanta Falcons in pursuit of one thing: redemption. He displayed flashes of stardom during his time with the Houston Texans, including a 100-tackle season in 2023, but an injury derailed his momentum, and by the time he returned last season, he had lost his starting jo to both Azeez Al-Shaair and Henry To'oTo'o.
He signed with the Falcons thinking it would be his best chance to get back on the field early and often because they had just lost Kaden Elliss and needed athletic backers to help replace him. So on paper, playing in LB guru Jeff Ulbrich's system would be the perfect situation for a career revival.
During OTAs this past summer, the 25-year-old got a good amount of first-team reps and impressed with them to the point that he looked like the frontrunner to be the LB2 next to Divine Deablo to start the season. Unfortunately, things haven't exactly gone according to plan for him since then.
Both linebackers Atlanta drafted in the 2026 Draft have cast doubt upon their faith in him, and it's been the presence of both Kendal Daniels and Harold Perkins Jr. that has seen him free-fall down the Falcons' depth chart to the point that Harris has played just four defensive snaps through six games.
Christian Harris is continuing to free-fall down the Atlanta Falcons' depth chart
It was a surprise when Christian Harris was a healthy scratch in the season opener against the Steelers, but things felt more normal when he appeared on special teams in Week 2-4. However, it seems like that was brief, as he was also a healthy scratch in Weeks 5 and 6 vs. the Ravens and Bears.
Josh Woods (who is taking the place of the injured JD Bertrand) has lapped Harris both in the linebacker rotation and on special teams, which is how you know this next chapter isn't going the way he anticipated--but it's not like it's bad enough to be blowing up in the Dirty Birds' face. He got less than $3 million. That's the free agency equivalent of a sixth or seventh-round pick.
And it just so happens two guys the Falcons used Day 3 picks on have stolen his job. One of them was drafted outside the top 200. Once camp started, the former third-round pick was given every opportunity to win an open competition, yet was out-played, and now Harris is paying the price for it.
Even though Deablo is hurt and Daniels was stretchered off the field against the Bears, the Alabama product still isn't getting his time to shine. Woods and Perkins started late against Chicago, and even with Deablo ruled out for Week 7, it'd be a shock to see him get any major reps since the fourth-round rookie should be a full go on Sunday and Brian Asamoah was elevated from the P-squad.
Perkins and Daniels are more athletic and versatile than Christian Harris, and he's not on Ulbrich's good side. He threw a punch during joint practices with the Colts and played reserve reps in preseason as a punishment, and ever since, he's been in the doghouse and unable to escape from it.
So though he (and the Falcons) had high hopes for this marriage at one point, the emergence of Kendal Daniels and Harold Perkins Jr. haven't even given him a chance to capitalize on a second chance.
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