The New England Patriots’ top pick in the 2019 NFL Draft could finally make his debut Sunday night against the Baltimore Ravens.
Wide receiver N’Keal Harry is “50-50” to play Sunday, a league source told The Boston Globe’s Jim McBride. Harry officially was activated off of injured reserve Saturday afternoon.
The Patriots do have a difficult decision to make on Harry an hour and a half before kickoff when they declare their inactives. New England has five other wide receivers on its 53-man roster in Julian Edelman, Mohamed Sanu, Phillip Dorsett, Jakobi Meyers and Gunner Olszewski, and that’s not even counting special teams captain Matthew Slater. The Patriots certainly don’t need to activate seven wide receivers on game day. Even six is pushing it.
So, one of those six players would likely have to be inactive for Harry to play. The most likely candidate would be Olszewski, who’s dealing with hamstring and ankle injuries but made the trip to Baltimore. The undrafted rookie has been the Patriots’ top punt returner, however. Harry could be a candidate to return punts, since he did it in college at Arizona State. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick also alluded to a “special teams role” for Harry during his Friday news conference.
The Patriots also could elect to deactivate Meyers, but he’s been a dependable target for quarterback Tom Brady through eight weeks. He has 14 catches on 17 targets for 172 yards as the team’s No. 4 option.
Still, though, Harry comes with the first-round pedigree, and he’s the only prototypical X-receiver left on the Patriots’ roster now that Josh Gordon is off of the team. The Patriots must see what they have in Harry before the end of the season. There’s a compelling case to make for Harry’s debut to come after the Patriots’ toughest matchup of the season against the Ravens and next week’s bye.
The Patriots’ next game after they take on the Ravens is Week 11 against the secondary-deprived Philadelphia Eagles.
If Harry does play Sunday in Baltimore, then expect him to play on the line of scrimmage in that X role, where he can run isolation routes and show off his size, athleticism and after-the-catch ability. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Harry run slant, fade and comeback routes similar to how Gordon was being deployed in the Patriots’ offense.
Harry is listed at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds and showed glimmers of dominance in his lone preseason performance this summer. He missed most of training camp and the majority of exhibition action while dealing with injuries.
Brady did a pretty good job of tampering expectations for Harry while talking up Sanu on Friday during his weekly news conference at Gillette Stadium. Brady loves veteran receivers and doesn’t show a lot of patience with rookies, however. Despite his inexperience, Harry is supremely talented. He’s the first wide receiver Belichick has deemed worthy of a first-round pick in 20 years with the Patriots.
It would be fun to see Harry debut on primetime television against the Ravens. But there’s a solid argument to let him sit another two weeks before getting in a game.
