The rare cornerback whose favorite comfort zone is run support
The Tech secondary has seen a lot of roster turnover this offseason, but if the unit takes a step forward in 2025, it’ll be because Ahmari Harvey personally takes a big step forward in his final year of eligibility. Two years as a starter have helped Harvey develop into a capable cornerback and playmaker in several regards, and his final college season will offer a chance to establish himself as a lockdown corner in the ACC.
A Tallahassee native and former four-star recruit, Harvey primarily played safety in high school and committed to Auburn, where he redshirted in 2021 before transferring to Tech after the season. He switched to cornerback in Atlanta and only played sparingly as a redshirt freshman in 2022, as veterans Zamari Walton and Myles Sims were locked in as starters. But when Walton transferred out after that season, it opened the door for Harvey to finally break into the starting lineup. He did so in 2023 and has been a fixture there since, amassing four interceptions and 94 tackles in his two years as a starter. It’s all but certain that Harvey—provided he’s healthy—will return as one of the starting corners this fall, offering some stability as several players vie for the other starting job.
Harvey’s biggest strength by far is his tackling ability, something he has personally traced back to his experience playing safety in high school. Despite not being particularly big for a corner, he’s shown the ability to both dish out hard hits and make clean wrap-up tackles. Perhaps more importantly, he’s adept at determining on the fly what type of tackle is needed for the situation. The first three plays from his 2024 ACC highlight reel demonstrate it well:
In the first one (0:00), he makes a clean rugby-style tackle on FSU running back Lawrance Toafili on fourth down, going for the high-percentage tackle since Toafili is well short of the line to gain. In the second quarter of the same game (0:15), he simply goes low to make sure he gets a piece of quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei behind the line, making sure to trip up his feet as DJU tries to escape. And on the goal line against Georgia State the following week (0:37), a wrap-up tackle at the lower legs would run the risk of letting running back Sy’veon Wilkerson stretch out to score… so instead he lowers the boom, putting his shoulder to Wilkerson’s center of mass to drive him to the ground.
Having a corner who is that effective against the run is a massive boon for any defense, as it puts a massive dent in the offense’s ability to run to the edge on that side. It’s why Harvey is likely to line up at boundary corner this fall as often as possible, playing on the short side of the field so he can be closer to the action at the snap.
As for coverage skills, Harvey shines in zone coverage, where his playmaking instincts can take over more easily. Of his four career interceptions, three were in zone coverage. The cleanest example was from the third quarter of the 2023 Miami game (begins at 0:12):
Harvey is playing a short zone here, and thanks to linebacker Braelen Oliver shadowing the outside receiver, he’s free to focus on tracking the quarterback’s eyes to see if he’s looking at the running back in the flat or the short-side slot receiver further downfield. He sees Tyler Van Dyke focus on the slot receiver, and as soon as Van Dyke begins his throwing motion, Harvey turns his hips and breaks toward it. As a result, he’s there to meet it just as the ball arrives, jumping the comeback route for an easy pick.
While zone is a strength, man-to-man coverage is the main area where Harvey still needs to develop. He’s good at staying on the receiver’s inside shoulder, and more often than not he’s able to keep pace with outside receivers on go routes even after pressing them on the line. The most central issue is a common one: he tends to stay focused on the receiver’s eyes rather than getting his head turned around in time to track the ball itself. That tendency is the easiest path to getting flagged for pass interference on close plays, and Harvey has been burned for that a few times. He’ll also need to work on staying tight with receivers through breaks in their routes, but in fairness, that poses a challenge for most cornerbacks and is one of the hardest parts of playing the position.
After some offseason coaching staff turnover, Harvey has been working with a new cornerbacks coach (Kobie Jones) and a new defensive coordinator (Blake Gideon) this spring and summer, along with returning secondary coach Cory Peoples. If they’re able to help him refine his man coverage skills between now and late August, it would pay dividends this fall… and possibly beyond. The last time Tech had a cornerback taken in the NFL Draft was 2016, when D.J. White was picked in the sixth round. If Harvey can make meaningful strides this season, it’s not too hard to imagine a future where he gets to play on Sundays.