20/20: N’Keal Harry
Welcome to the 20/20 series. As part of our continued Dynasty Scouts coverage and in preparation for the NFL Combine, we will be profiling 20 of the top incoming rookies of the class of 2019 by giving you 20 facts you must know.
1.) Player Name – N’Keal Harry
2.) College – Arizona State
3.) Height/Weight – 6’4″, 220 pounds
4.) Birthdate – 12/17/1997 (21 years old)
5.) Class – Junior
6.) Basic college stats – Harry broke onto the scene as a true freshman in 2016, living up to his status as a top recruit. While most consider Harry’s sophomore season to be his best, the Arizona State star set a career-high with nine touchdowns this past season. His rushing totals of 144 yards and three touchdowns on 23 career carries are also encouraging usage for any receiver.
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7.) NFL Draft round projection – Late first-second round. Recent NFL mock drafts from CBS, NBC and USA Today all project Harry to be selected in the bottom third of the first round, falling as either the WR2 or WR3, respectively. A pair of NFL.com writers, Lance Zierlein and Daniel Jeremiah, released updated mock drafts with Harry not making the round one cut.
8.) Current NFL comparison – Depending on who you trust, Harry has been compared to many recent top NFL wideouts, including A.J. Green, Julio Jones, Dez Bryant and Alshon Jeffery. With Harry’s skills, high-level college production and speed questions, I see another Mike Williams of the Chargers. Williams entered the league with more hype, eventually being drafted in the top ten but his production through two seasons has been somewhat underwhelming.
9.) Best possible destination – Fantasy owners typically cheer for rookie receivers to land with contenders, avoiding poor quarterback play. With Harry and other wideouts expected to fall to the bottom half of the first or even later, that sets up perfectly for a receiver-needy playoff team to make the move. Teams that could make use of Harry include Dallas, New England and Philadelphia. Others that could use another wideout include Cleveland and Green Bay. If I have to choose one ideal spot for Harry, it has to be Indianapolis, where he could pair well with deep-threat T.Y. Hilton and catch balls from one of the league’s best quarterbacks, Andrew Luck.
10.) Worst possible destination – Obviously, landing in any crowded situation would not be ideal, so narrowing this down to only the teams considered to have a need at wide receiver, there are a couple that fans of Harry and the other talented incoming rookie wideouts are hoping to avoid. The Buffalo Bills offer a clear path to immediate playing time but there are still many questions as to whether quarterback Josh Allen can accurately and consistently complete passes to his receivers. It is a very similar story in Baltimore, where quarterback Lamar Jackson showed off his wheels and his poor passing touch in an exciting rookie season. While Harry would likely serve as the top target in either of these situations, it would still negatively impact his dynasty value.
11.) Best current skill – According to scouts, Harry possesses nearly every trait you’d like to see in a receiver, but his strength and physicality are the backbones to his game. Harry has been known to bully defenders in jump ball situations, showing strong hands and fighting for the ball. At 6’4” and weight 220 pounds, Harry has the size to dominate many defensive backs.
12.) Skill that needs to be improved – The one trait that Harry is lacking is top-end speed. This is not necessarily something that can or will improve as his career continues though he can learn to adjust and strengthen other parts of his game.
13.) Past/current rookie ADP – Although we have no rookie ADP data for the class of 2019 yet, Harry is a lock for the first round and one of many players in contention to be the 1.01 rookie pick. In fact, Harry was the top choice in the recent DLF Staff Rookie Mock Draft. We are looking at an interesting dynamic with Harry, one that actually reminds me of the Laquon Treadwell situation. Throughout Treadwell’s college career, he was viewed as the favorite to be the top player drafted among his class and easily the best receiver prospect. In the end though, he was not even the first receiver drafted as scouts and NFL teams had some concerns about his overall game. Harry has been the 1.01 favorite since the end of his freshman season, but I can’t seem to find a mock draft in which he is the WR1.
14.) Projected dynasty value – Typically, the top rookies will start coming off the board of a startup dynasty draft in the mid-second round, with others following accordingly. Whether Harry ends up as the consensus top rookie or not, I do not expect this to be the case in 2019. With this year’s crowded and unpredictable rookie class, I expect the top rookies to start coming off the board in the mid to late-third round. I view Harry as a fourth or fifth round startup pick.
15.) Massive Market Share – Harry was his team’s best player and top option essentially from the moment he stepped onto campus. In his recently-completed junior season, Harry had 32% of Arizona State’s receptions, over 29% of passing targets, 36% of receiving yardage and a massive 45% of the Sun Devils receiving scores. Each of these numbers were among the best in the class.
16.) Fitz is a Fan – Harry might be good but he’s not the best wideout in Arizona. Of course, that honor goes to future Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald of the Cardinals. Fitzgerald has become a fan of Harry, calling the soon to be rookie a “phenomenal talent.” Fitz wasn’t done with the high praise though, going on to say about Harry, “he’s a much better college player than I was. He’s so physical. His hands are so strong. He can really track the ball over either shoulder. It’s been a real delight to be able to watch him play.”
17.) No Injury Concerns – The athletic receiver Harry enters the NFL with none of the injury concerns that linger with some of his fellow rookie receivers. In his three seasons at Arizona State, the only game Harry missed was the recent Las Vegas Bowl, which he sat out of after declaring for the NFL Draft.
18.) Prized Recruit – Harry exited high school in 2016 as one of the most highly-recruited receiver prospects. With a final five mostly made up of Pac-12 schools, Harry made it clear he’d stay out west for his collegiate career. Harry ended up as a four-star prospect, ranked as the WR7 in the class.
19.) Not a Red Zone Weapon – In his junior season, Harry drew 15 red zone targets, catching just four of those for only two touchdowns. The receptions and touchdowns totals put Harry outside of the top 30 wideouts in this draft class.
20.) Rushing Receiver – You might have noticed in the stat line above that along with Harry’s impressive receiving numbers in his three years at Arizona State, he also contributed as a runner. Harry has turned 23 career rush attempts into 144 yards and three touchdowns. It is always an encouraging sign when teams look to get players involved in other than traditional ways.
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