One year is too early to judge if a player will be a bust or not, and Daniel Jeremiah is fully aware of that.
However, the NFL Media analyst does not have high hopes for the New England Patriots’ 2019 first-round pick.
The Patriots selected Arizona State wide receiver N’Keal Harry at the end of the first round, and Harry proceeded to have an underwhelming rookie season in Foxboro. That’s in part because he spent the first half of the campaign on injured reserve, but upon his return, he had just 12 receptions for 105 yards and two touchdowns in seven games.
And during an appearance Wednesday on WEEI’s “Dale and Keefe,” Jeremiah explained why he’s skeptical.
“He went a little bit higher than I had him, but what I thought he could do was be a red-zone guy, he was a big target, a third-down option,” Jeremiah said, via WEEI.com. “It’s not normal to have rookies play well at that position. Last year was not a normal year. We had A.J. Brown, (D.K.) Metcalf and (Terry) McLaurin, all these guys, Deebo Samuel, have great rookie years. It is normal for these guys to take a little bit of time.
“I’d reserve judgment there. I don’t think he is going to be an elite player, I don’t think he’s going to be a No. 1 receiver, but I think he can be a solid player in the league and I think we will see how he progresses, but that is my expectation that he will get to that point.”
Time will tell, but with Tom Brady gone, the Patriots certainly would benefit from Harry proving Jeremiah wrong.