Super Bowl champs pick former Madison Southern star in third round

Former Madison Southern star Damien Harris is headed to the New England Patriots.

Harris, a running back out of Alabama, was selected by the Super Bowl champs with the 87th overall pick during the third round of the NFL Draft on Friday.

Harris rushed for 3,070 yards and 23 touchdowns in four years with the Crimson Tide. He averaged 6.4 yards on 477 total rushes.

Josh Jacobs, Harris’ teammate at Alabama, was the first running back picked in the draft and the only one selected in the first round (Oakland took him with the 24th pick). Penn State’s Miles Sanders was the only running back taken in round two, going 53rd overall to Philadelphia (right ahead of UK cornerback Lonnie Johnson, who was drafted by Houston with the next pick).

Iowa State’s David Montgomery and Florida Atlantic’s David Singletary were taken back-to-back in the third round by Chicago (No. 73) and Buffalo (No. 74), respectively.

Harris was a five-star recruit at Madison Southern, located about 40 miles south of Lexington in Berea, but chose Alabama over Kentucky. He was a prolific scorer — he ranks second all-time in the KHSAA record book — and finished with more than 6,700 rushing yards despite missing the final five games of his senior season due to a knee injury.