I like Chicago’s decision to throw a late-round pick at N’Keal Harry. That roster is in need of another pass catcher, and the price is right.
Harry was a first-round pick in 2019, and nobody was complaining about him at that time. Coming out of Arizona State, he looked like he might be another Anquan Boldin. He’s got that kind of size (6-4, 225). In his final 25 games there, he caught 155 passes, with 18 touchodwns.
The results with the Patriots were underwhelming, but there were some extenuating circumstances. He missed the first half of his rookie season with an injury, and that entire passing game fell apart in 2020 when they went with scatter-armed Cam Newton at quarterback.
There’s no getting around the fact that Harry was outperformed last year by Jakobi Meyers, Kendrick Bourne and Nelson Agholor, but I think it’s reasonable to plug him into another offense and see what happens. Some chance, I would think, that he might play his way into a role with the receiver-thin Bears.
Consider Laquon Treadwell, who’s a similar kind of player (and also a former first-round pick). He didn’t do much of anything with the Vikings. Treadwell at times last year looked like he was possibly the best wide receiver for the Jaguars – not a star, but a roster-worthy player.
The price is right – just a seventh-round pick. It’s rare to hit on players at that stage in the draft, making this is a low-cost venture. Since 2000, for example, 125 wide receivers have been selected with seventh-round picks. Only nine of those guys ever had a top-50 season in their careers (using PPR scoring). If Harry performs well enough to make Chicago’s roster, it will have been a successful trade for the Bears.
| BEST SEVENTH-ROUND WR (since 2000) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | No | Yds | TD | PPR | Rk |
| 2004 | David Givens, N.E. | 56 | 874 | 3 | 161.4 | 36 |
| 2005 | David Givens, N.E. | 59 | 738 | 2 | 146.1 | 41 |
| 2013 | Julian Edelman, N.E. | 105 | 1056 | 6 | 251.7 | 14 |
| 2014 | Julian Edelman, N.E. | 92 | 972 | 5 | 228.6 | 15 |
| 2015 | Julian Edelman, N.E. | 61 | 692 | 7 | 174.5 | 35 |
| 2016 | Julian Edelman, N.E. | 98 | 1106 | 3 | 234.3 | 14 |
| 2018 | Julian Edelman, N.E. | 74 | 850 | 6 | 207.9 | 21 |
| 2019 | Julian Edelman, N.E. | 100 | 1117 | 6 | 258.8 | 7 |
| 2007 | Kevin Walter, Hou. | 65 | 800 | 5 | 178.0 | 31 |
| 2008 | Kevin Walter, Hou. | 60 | 899 | 8 | 200.2 | 23 |
| 2010 | Kevin Walter, Hou. | 51 | 621 | 5 | 143.1 | 48 |
| 2006 | Marques Colston, N.O. | 70 | 1038 | 8 | 221.8 | 16 |
| 2007 | Marques Colston, N.O. | 98 | 1202 | 11 | 284.2 | 8 |
| 2008 | Marques Colston, N.O. | 47 | 760 | 5 | 153.0 | 38 |
| 2009 | Marques Colston, N.O. | 70 | 1074 | 9 | 232.0 | 16 |
| 2010 | Marques Colston, N.O. | 84 | 1023 | 7 | 228.4 | 15 |
| 2011 | Marques Colston, N.O. | 80 | 1143 | 8 | 242.3 | 10 |
| 2012 | Marques Colston, N.O. | 83 | 1154 | 10 | 258.4 | 13 |
| 2013 | Marques Colston, N.O. | 75 | 943 | 5 | 199.3 | 25 |
| 2014 | Marques Colston, N.O. | 59 | 902 | 5 | 179.2 | 37 |
| 2007 | Patrick Crayton, Dall. | 50 | 697 | 7 | 161.7 | 36 |
| 2009 | Patrick Crayton, Dall. | 37 | 622 | 7 | 144.0 | 44 |
| 2016 | Rishard Matthews, Ten. | 65 | 945 | 9 | 213.5 | 21 |
| 2017 | Rishard Matthews, Ten. | 53 | 795 | 4 | 156.2 | 37 |
| 2004 | Ronald Curry, Oak. | 50 | 679 | 6 | 153.6 | 42 |
| 2006 | Ronald Curry, Oak. | 62 | 727 | 1 | 141.1 | 43 |
| 2007 | Ronald Curry, Oak. | 55 | 717 | 4 | 154.8 | 40 |
| 2010 | Stevie Johnson, Buff. | 82 | 1073 | 10 | 249.3 | 10 |
| 2011 | Stevie Johnson, Buff. | 76 | 1004 | 7 | 218.4 | 16 |
| 2012 | Stevie Johnson, Buff. | 79 | 1046 | 6 | 219.6 | 18 |
| 2004 | T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Cin. | 73 | 978 | 4 | 199.9 | 28 |
| 2005 | T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Cin. | 78 | 956 | 8 | 227.8 | 14 |
| 2006 | T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Cin. | 90 | 1081 | 9 | 252.7 | 10 |
| 2007 | T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Cin. | 112 | 1143 | 12 | 299.7 | 6 |
| 2008 | T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Cin. | 92 | 904 | 4 | 207.3 | 21 |
| 2009 | T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Sea. | 79 | 911 | 3 | 188.1 | 25 |
At the same time, expectations should be modest. If Harry were going to be a starter-caliber receiver, he almost certainly would have shown more by now. And the Bears aren’t a team that will be putting up good passing numbers anyway.
What Harry is attempting is almost unprecedented. Looking over the numbers from the last 50 years, I see only one wide receiver picked in the first round who’s pulled off something similar to what Harry is attempting. Mike Williams was a flop with the Lions but got things going pretty well for the Seahawks in 2010, with 65 catches for 751 yards.
Jessie Hester maybe. He was the 16th-best wide receiver in 1990 for the Colts (using PPR scoring). But Hester, while underwhelming, was a lot more productive with his first team than Harry has been with the Patriots. Hester almost had a top-40 season with the Raiders.
More recently, Treadwell and Breshad Perriman have been able to turn their careers around some but have never quite gotten over the hump statistically. Neither has ever had a top-50 fantasy season (using PPR scoring). Perriman has had a couple of spurts at least.
I do not see Harry as a late-round consideration at this time.
—Ian Allan