Around the NFL

July 07, 2021

N'Keal Harry

New England bust one of many recent 1st-round missteps

So N'Keal Harry has formally requested a trade from the New England Patriots. This is interesting, in that Harry and his agent are apparently oblivious to the fact that the Patriots have, by various reports, been trying to trade him for the past year or more. We can find a couple of highlight plays he made as a rookie, but by any measure he's been a bust.

About the kindest thing that can be said for Harry is that while he's been a high-profile bust, he hasn't exactly been an anomaly lately. In general, it's been a disappointing past few years for first-round wideouts.

The last really good year for the position seems to be 2014. That year produced Sammy Watkins, Mike Evans, Odell Beckham, Brandin Cooks and Kelvin Benjamin. Watkins has been a disappointment, Benjamin is trying to stick in the league as a bottom-of-the-roster tight end, and Beckham has battled injuries lately. And yet, those five players have combined for 17 top-20 seasons (PPR) over the last seven years. That's a far cry from what first-rounders selected since then have done.

From 2015 through 2020, there were 23 wide receivers drafted in the first round. Those players have combined for a total of 9 top-20 seasons, out of 79 total years that made it into our files. Nearly half (4) were by Amari Cooper. Other clear hits from those seasons include Calvin Ridley and Justin Jefferson, with DeVante Parker and DJ Moore also turning in a fine season or two. But the vast majority have flopped hard: Harry, John Ross, Corey Coleman, Phillip Dorsett, Laquon Treadwell, Josh Doctson, Kevin White.

For some of the below players, most notably 2020's first-rounders, it's early. For many, it already looks too late. Table is ordered by performance (PPR) in each of the last six seasons.

1ST-ROUND WIDE RECEIVERS, 2015-2020
Year	Player	Tgt	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD	Rk
2020	Calvin Ridley, Atl.	143	90	1374	15.3	9	5
2020	Justin Jefferson, Min.	125	88	1400	15.9	7	6
2019	Amari Cooper, Dall.	119	79	1189	15.1	8	10
2019	DeVante Parker, Mia.	128	72	1202	16.7	9	11
2016	Amari Cooper, Oak.	132	83	1153	13.9	5	15
2020	Amari Cooper, Dall.	130	92	1114	12.1	5	15
2019	DJ Moore, Car.	135	87	1175	13.5	4	16
2018	Amari Cooper, 2TM	107	75	1005	13.4	7	19
2018	Calvin Ridley, Atl.	92	64	821	12.8	10	20
2015	Amari Cooper, Oak.	130	72	1070	14.9	6	21
2020	CeeDee Lamb, Dall.	111	74	935	12.6	5	22
2017	Nelson Agholor, Phil.	95	62	768	12.4	8	23
2020	DJ Moore, Car.	118	66	1193	18.1	4	25
2019	Calvin Ridley, Atl.	93	63	866	13.8	7	27
2018	Corey Davis, Ten.	112	65	891	13.7	4	29
2020	Corey Davis, Ten.	92	65	984	15.1	5	29
2020	Will Fuller, Hou.	75	53	879	16.6	8	32
2018	Mike Williams (Clemson), LAC	66	43	664	15.4	10	33
2018	Nelson Agholor, Phil.	97	64	736	11.5	4	34
2020	Nelson Agholor, L.V.	82	48	896	18.7	8	34
2020	Brandon Aiyuk, S.F.	96	60	748	12.5	5	35
2020	Marquise Brown, Balt.	100	58	769	13.3	8	36
2018	DJ Moore, Car.	82	55	788	14.3	2	36
2017	Amari Cooper, Oak.	96	48	680	14.2	7	36
2020	DeVante Parker, Mia.	103	63	793	12.6	4	40
2019	Mike Williams, LAC	90	49	1001	20.4	2	41
2020	Jerry Jeudy, Den.	113	52	856	16.5	3	45
2019	Marquise Brown, Balt.	71	46	584	12.7	7	46
2020	Mike Williams, LAC	85	48	756	15.8	5	48
2016	DeVante Parker, Mia.	87	56	744	13.3	4	50
2019	Breshad Perriman, T.B.	69	36	645	17.9	6	51
2017	DeVante Parker, Mia.	96	57	670	11.8	1	52
2019	Will Fuller, Hou.	71	49	670	13.7	3	54
2017	Josh Doctson, Was.	78	35	502	14.3	6	57
2016	Will Fuller, Hou.	92	47	635	13.5	2	61
2017	Will Fuller, Hou.	50	28	423	15.1	7	61
2019	Corey Davis, Ten.	69	43	601	14.0	2	64
2018	Josh Doctson, Was.	78	44	532	12.1	2	67
2018	Will Fuller, Hou.	45	32	503	15.7	4	69
2019	Phillip Dorsett, N.E.	54	29	397	13.7	5	71
2019	John Ross, Cin.	56	28	506	18.1	3	74
2019	Nelson Agholor, Phil.	69	39	363	9.3	3	75
2016	Breshad Perriman, Balt.	66	33	499	15.1	3	77
2020	Breshad Perriman, NYJ	60	30	505	16.8	3	78
2015	DeVante Parker, Mia.	50	26	494	19.0	3	78
2016	Phillip Dorsett, Ind.	59	33	528	16.0	2	79
2016	Corey Coleman, Cle.	73	33	413	12.5	3	82
2017	Corey Davis, Ten.	65	34	375	11.0	0	85
2018	John Ross, Cin.	58	21	210	10.0	7	86
2016	Nelson Agholor, Phil.	69	36	365	10.1	2	86
2018	Phillip Dorsett, N.E.	42	32	290	9.1	3	88
2020	Henry Ruggs, L.V.	43	26	452	17.4	2	89
2020	Jalen Reagor, Phil.	54	31	396	12.8	1	91
2017	Corey Coleman, Cle.	58	23	305	13.3	2	92
2018	Laquon Treadwell, Min.	53	35	302	8.6	1	94
2020	N'Keal Harry, N.E.	57	33	309	9.4	2	98
2015	Nelson Agholor, Phil.	44	23	283	12.3	1	101
2018	Breshad Perriman, Cle.	25	16	340	21.3	2	103
2018	DeVante Parker, Mia.	47	24	309	12.9	1	107
2015	Phillip Dorsett, Ind.	39	18	225	12.5	1	110
2017	Laquon Treadwell, Min.	35	20	200	10.0	0	121
2016	Kevin White, Chi.	36	19	187	9.8	0	122
2019	N'Keal Harry, N.E.	24	12	105	8.8	2	124
2017	Phillip Dorsett, N.E.	18	12	194	16.2	0	127
2019	Laquon Treadwell, Min.	16	9	184	20.4	1	135
2017	Mike Williams, LAC	23	11	95	8.6	0	139
2017	Breshad Perriman, Balt.	35	10	77	7.7	0	145
2020	Laquon Treadwell, Atl.	7	6	49	8.2	2	156
2018	Kevin White, Chi.	8	4	92	23.0	0	164
2018	Corey Coleman, NYG	8	5	71	14.2	0	165
2016	Josh Doctson, Was.	6	2	66	33.0	0	169
2016	Laquon Treadwell, Min.	3	1	15	15.0	0	187
2017	Kevin White, Chi.	4	2	6	3.0	0	189
2017	John Ross, Cin.	2	0	0		0	199
2020	John Ross, Cin.	7	2	17	8.5	0	203
2019	Josh Doctson, Min.	0	0	0		0	226
2020	Kevin White, S.F.	0	0	0		0	235
2015	Breshad Perriman, Balt.	0	0	0		0	--
2015	Kevin White, Chi.	0	0	0		0	--

Harry will be on another team this season. Maybe New England suckers some team into giving up a mid-round pick; the Texans have been popular destinations for other teams' disappointments in recent years. He's only had two poor seasons, so maybe there's a Nelson Agholor type revival in his future.

But just as likely he's the next Ross or White, getting a look-see with some other team but never being the player he was in college. Very optimistic to imagine he makes an impact anywhere.

--Andy Richardson

N'Keal Harry

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