FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- It was around this time a year ago when the Patriots were just getting to know their 2019 first-round pick in N'Keal Harry. Because of an ankle injury suffered during training camp in 2019, Harry, the only wide receiver ever taken by Bill Belichick in the first round of the draft during his tenure in New England, wasn't able to make his NFL debut until Week 11.
Throughout the remaining weeks of that season, Harry flashed some of that first-round billing, but never totally took off like some of his other draftmates, finishing with just 12 receptions for 105 yards and two touchdowns in seven regular-season games. While the knee-jerk reaction to that muffled beginning to his highly anticipated pro career was to slap the bust tag on the now-22-year-old, the injury derailing any sort of smooth entry into the NFL was enough for most sane folks to hold back on making any legitimate, long-term criticisms of the Arizona State protect.
With Week 12 of the 2020 season in the books, however, Harry now has 16 regular-season games (a full season's length) under his belt. The production isn't pretty. Over that stretch, the receiver has 36 receptions for 318 yards and three touchdowns, giving him a 21.2 receiving yards per game average.
In Sunday's last-second 20-17 win over the Arizona Cardinals where the Patriots booted a game-winning field goal as time expired, Harry was once again a non-factor in New England's offense, recording zero catches on three targets. He did get one carry but was tackled for a two-yard loss. Not only was Harry not directly contributing to the offense, but he was called for a holding penalty in the first quarter that brought the Patriots back 10 yards. While New England was able to eventually score on that drive to cut into Arizona's then 10-0 lead to just three, they did it in spite of Harry, which shouldn't be how things are operating with a first-round selection.
While this does seem like we're taking relentless jabs at Harry's expense, the stats are what they are. The good news for him is that he's still green, as evidence of finally hitting 16 regular-season games in Week 12 of his sophomore season. There's plenty of highway in front of him, but he actually has to step on the gas and go.
The Patriots must get more production out of this asset as they move forward in sculpting a more prolific passing game, not just for 2020 but beyond. if they are able to get a comparable return on this first-round investment, it'll go a tremendous way in making New England a more well-rounded threat offensively. The sooner that happens the better, by the way, as they will not win many more games with a quarterback throwing just 84 yards through the air like they did Sunday.
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November 30, 2020 at 06:32AM
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Patriots need more from first-rounder N'Keal Harry to improve lackluster passing attack - CBS Sports
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