FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — As the Atlanta Falcons look to replace the presence of Kaden Elliss at inside linebacker, Christian Harris has emerged as a candidate worth monitoring.
A third-round pick by the Houston Texans in 2022, Harris has played in 46 games with 27 starts in his four NFL seasons. Injuries hampered Harris during his time in Houston, but he showed enough in DeMeco Ryans' defensive scheme to give Atlanta a clear sense of how he would fit with the Falcons.
"Christians a guy that has been in a very similar system in Houston and has played a lot of football," Falcons inside linebackers coach Barrett Ruud said. "So, he came in and was really familiar with a lot of our concepts. He's been a great addition to our room."
Harris's best season with the Texans came in 2023, when he recorded 101 tackles, 7 tackles for a loss, 7 pass defenses, 2 sacks and a forced fumble. That season, he lined up primarily as an inside linebacker but also showed the capacity to bump out to the slot and play a big nickel role when needed.
That level of flexibility is highly valued in today's NFL and within Jeff Ulbrich's defense. In Atlanta, Harris is beginning to adjust to how his versatility will be relied upon and the variety of packages the team will deploy.
"There's more multiplicity in this defense, more packages," Harris said. "So just moving around on the line a little bit off the ball. I'm familiar with that, obviously, and in space I'm used to that also. So I think here I really just get a start on every piece of my game that I really haven't had anywhere else."
Shortly after the 2025 season ended, Ulbrich noted that it would likely take multiple players to replicate what Elliss was able to do in his defense. A pass rusher in a linebacker's body, Elliss was as comfortable on the line of scrimmage as he was operating off the ball or dropping into coverage.
Last year, Elliss made 107 tackles, 10 tackles for a loss, 6 pass defenses, 3.5 sacks and an interception.
That unique combination of skills isn't easily found.
"What we had asked Kaden to do, I had never been around anything like that before in the past," Ulbrich said. "There were days when he was an outside backer, days when he was a defensive end, days he was an inside backer, days he was, in some ways, a nickel. That's hard to replace."
Harris has the composite makeup to fill a similar role, even if it won't look exactly the same. The 6-foot-2, 232-pound linebacker ran the 40-yard dash in 4.44 seconds and posted an 11-foot broad jump at the NFL Combine, the latter of which puts him in the 98th percentile of all linebackers, according to MockDraftable.
That speed and athleticism made Harris a star at Alabama, where he accrued 221 tackles, 27 tackles for a loss and 10 sacks. NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein compared Harris to former Falcon De'Vondre Campbell, who developed into a good starter under Ulbrich.
There are a number of intriguing options for who Atlanta could place beside Divine Deablo, who is expected to be the primary communicator for the defense. Harris got a long look in the role during OTAs, but rookie Kendal Daniels and Jalon Walker also have traits that could make them a fit for that spot.
"We're rotating so many different guys in there throughout the walkthroughs, throughout the individual periods, throughout 7-on-7, team, if you will," head coach Kevin Stefanski said. "I think that's the name of the game at linebacker, and also where we are as a team. Just rotate guys in and out, see what type of combinations make sense, and give guys as many opportunities as they can to put their best foot forward, [and] let us have a real evaluation of them over the course of this offseason program leading into preseason football as well."
During training camp in 2025, Ulbrich explained that he has a limited menu of defensive calls. This allows players to repeat what is expected of them countless times during OTAs and training camp. "The beauty of doing 1,100 reps of one front, you learn all those nuances, you learn all those little details," he said.
Harris is in the process of learning all those little details as he hopes to claim his spot next to Deablo in the starting lineup. Atlanta's defense took a big step forward in its first season with Ulbrich at the helm, but some key figures from that group departed this offseason. Elliss might be chief among them, but the NFL is built on the next-man-up mentality.
With minicamp just around the corner and training camp on the horizon, Harris is doing what he can to be that next man.
"You've got to earn it at the end of the day," Harris said. "Gotta learn a defense, like I said, learn the language and try and lead these guys the best that I can."
