N’Keal Harry had a few expectations on draft day. But it doesn’t seem like many of them were realized. The New England Patriots came out of nowhere to draft him out of Arizona State at 32nd overall.
Harry had the Seattle Seahawks (picking at 29th overall and 47th overall), the Baltimore Ravens (picking at 25th overall) and the Oakland Raiders (picking at Nos. 4, 24, 27 and 40) on his radar. The Patriots were not.
“I had no clue. I really was not expecting to go to the Patriots,” Harry told Kristine Leahy on Fox Sports 1’s “Fair Game” on Monday. “Once they got to pick 32, I heard the announcers talking about wide receivers and how they don’t traditionally go wide receiver and how Bill [Belichick] has never picked a wide receiver [in the first round], so let’s just get ready for Day 2.”
Belichick broke precedent and took Harry.
Harry joined the Patriots after a 2018 season in which he had 82 receptions for 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns, and a 2017 season with 73 receptions, 1,088 yards and nine touchdowns.
He joins a group that includes Julian Edelman, Demaryius Thomas, Josh Gordon (suspension), Phillip Dorsett and Maurice Harris, among others. It’s likely that Harry emerges as the team’s No. 2 option in the passing game, which could mean a sizable role considering Rob Gronkowski’s retirement.
