…N’Keal Harry, wide receiver, Arizona State University.
The Patriots homer in me is bursting at the seams with this pick by Bill Belichick and director of player personnel Nick Caserio. Shocker, I know. Allow me to explain why.
Harry is a 6’2”, 228-pound beast of a receiver. He is labeled as an outside receiver, being the deep threat that he is, but he played both slot and near the sideline all throughout his college career. In his three years of college football at ASU, Harry played in 37 games and totaled 213 receptions for 2,889 receiving yards and 22 touchdowns, averaging 13.6 yards per reception.
Notably, Harry was compared to none other than D.K. Metcalf out of Ole Miss, the massive wide receiver (literally, wide) who clocked in an eye-popping 4.33 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine back in February with his unique stature for a wide receiver. Harry’s 40-yard dash looks weak at 4.53 compared to Metcalf’s, but most analysts agree that Harry is the overall superior receiver. Former NFL and Patriots executive Mike Lombardi recently said on his podcast that anyone who selects Metcalf before Harry would be “an idiot.” The majority of mock drafts and analysis I saw from experts and fans had Harry over Metcalf, and it turns out they were all correct.
Compared to Metcalf, Harry is the superior route runner. Playing both inside and outside, Harry showcased extremely quick feet and dominant strength typically unseen by wide receivers. At the Combine, he clocked in an impressive 27 reps on the bench press, tying for the highest amount by a wide receiver, the most by a WR since 2010, and more reps than any tight end registered this year. This shows that he has an innate ability to overpower defenders. On his strength, Caserio said, “He has some physical attributes that are important to that position…We just thought this is a player that made the most sense for us.”
Coupled with his strength, Harry is also a constant deep threat whether he is inside or outside, just one of the many reasons why this pick by the Patriots is so interesting and compelling. Also at the Combine, he further explained just how much of a deep threat he is by registering a 38.5-inch vertical jump. While the Patriots currently employ the likes of Julian Edelman, Phillip Dorsett and Demaryius Thomas at the WR position, there is no individual that stands out as a deep threat. Seeing how Rob Gronkowski has retired, New England desperately needed some height and some hops from a pass-catcher. I think they struck gold with N’Keal Harry in that department.
Speaking of the lack of depth at the WR position and receiver position in general, wide receiver was widely regarded as New England’s top need heading into this year’s draft. I wasn’t sure what the Patriots were going to do with their first-round pick or if they were even going to keep the pick, maybe trade it, as the Patriots tend to do (I went to sleep at like 10 PM because I had a feeling they were going to do that and thoroughly disappoint me and force me to go to bed angry, but here we are). Instead, they made a smart selection at a time in need. New England desperately needed to get younger at this position, as they need to do across the board in this draft. Harry has his weaknesses, such as dropping passes and not consistently winning over his defender at the line of scrimmage, but his youth lifts a lot off of the shoulders of the handful of 30-something wide receivers the Patriots have on their roster right now. Harry will follow the lead of Edelman and initialThomas and will be catching passes from Tom Brady and being coached by Bill Belichick, so I think he’s going to be okay.
The most intriguing aspect of this pick, to me, is how this is the first time in the Bill Belichick era of the Patriots that they have drafted a wide receiver with their first-round pick. The last time the Patriots did so was back in 1996 when they selected Terry Glenn with the seventh overall pick. New England selecting a highly-valued wide receiver, let alone a wide receiver in the first place, with their initial selection tells me a couple of things. One of them is that they realized that they were in dire need of help and youth at the position, and fast. There was nothing left on the free agent market and they were forced to look to the draft for help, and on the first day, they did exactly that. Another thing that churns the gears in my brain in regards to this pick is just how poorly the Patriots have done at drafting wide receivers. They have hit on a few, of course, with guys like Deion Branch, Julian Edelman, David Givens and Malcolm Mitchell, but have brutally missed on too many guys to name such as Chad Jackson, Bethel Johnson, Aaron Dobson, Taylor Price…you know what I’m getting at. The Patriots not only desperately needed to get younger at the position but they also desperately needed to hit on a player at the position. They know, I know, we all know that they cannot continue to draft wide receivers who fail s miserably at living up to their potential. The neverending carousel of failed draft picks and acquiring not good enough replacements from around the league got old pretty quickly. I’m hoping that this pick will begin to turn that tide.
One more thing that piqued my interest with this pick was how…different Harry is compared to other receivers New England has drafted in the past. The Patriots love small, quick receivers. It’s their brand and generally, we love it. N’Keal Harry is not all that small. He is quick with his hands and his feet, but he is insanely strong compared to what we are used to. It feels to me like the Patriots are beginning to break this wide receiver mold in a number of ways. Drafting one for the first time in the first round, getting a whole lot younger in the blink of an eye, seeking out different dimensions at the position…I’m a big fan of this. It further excites me, waiting to see what they will do with the rest of their plethora of picks.
Harry was just the second wide receiver selected in this draft, behind Marquise Brown, which blatantly tells me how much New England liked him and how well I think he will blend and fit in here in Foxboro. They needed to get faster, especially on the outside, and Harry gives them that speed, almost deceptive speed. He is also quite durable, another thing that New England needed at the position. With Julian Edelman’s injury history, Josh Gordon indefinitely suspended and Demaryius Thomas coming off of a torn Achilles, the Patriots inevitably needed some more help.
Harry isn’t exactly a flashy wideout but this past October, he turned many football fans’ heads, both college and pro, when he made easily the catch of the year AND returned a punt for a touchdown in the same game. Just take a look at this performance:
I actually remember watching this game and witnessing that catch. Oh, mama, it is still a sight to behold. His current talent and his potential is off the charts, one big reason why I’m such a fan of this pick. Many are critical of this pick, experts and fans, but I see nothing wrong with it at the moment. If he miserably flops then I will get on the Patriots for it, but for the time being, this is a low-risk, high-reward situation. Bill Belichick’s history of poorly drafting WRs is set in stone; this pick won’t change it, I don’t care about that. I care about right now and the future and this pick gives me every reason to believe that he will be New England’s angel in disguise at this position, bringing strength, youth and potential.
One of my favorite quotes from Harry from his first Patriots conference call when asked about his style of play: “I’d describe my game as very passionate. I play with a lot of passion. Whenever that ball is in the air, I’ll sacrifice anything to go get it and I’ll do whatever it takes to help the team win. Anything coach wants me to do whether it’s on special teams, offense, anything I’ll do it just to do my part and be one piece of the puzzle to help us win.” Now there’s a Patriots quote right there. *multiple fire flames emojis*
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