Patriots Sources Explain the Reasons for N'Keal Harry's Failure and It's a Terrible Look for Him

Jeffrey T Barnes. Shutterstock Images.

As we toss the clumps of dirt on the casket and say our last goodbyes to N'Keal Harry's crushingly disappointing career in New England, it's important to do a postmortem and find the cause of his early career death

Sure, it would be easy to simply wipe the dirt from our hands as we walk from the grave like Father MacKenzie at Elanor Rigby's funeral and forget the whole thing. But we need to do what we can to make sure no family has to suffer like this again. And by that I mean, not ours. Everyone else can fend for themselves. So it's not enough to just say "he sucked" and call it a day. Even though I chose this photo because it is really hard to find one of Harry with a ball in his hands in an actual game. 

Seriously, this above image is representative of his three seasons here. As is this play I referenced when he first got traded to Chicago for final round pick in two years. Stay with it an make careful note the effort he puts forth as the play continues:

As a reminder, this came on the very next down after a perfect Mac Jones spiral that should've been a 1st down, hit him right in the palms and then hit the turf.

So I deeply appreciate Doug Kyed of Pro Football Focus (paywall) getting in touch with some anonymous sources to shed some light on what went so horribly, horribly wrong. Emphasis mine:

Some believe Harry was destined to fail with the Patriots before he even stepped inside Gillette Stadium. The Patriots’ system is notoriously difficult to learn. One source believes it’s the most difficult offense to pick up in the NFL.

“Just picking up the system that has been in place for 20 years and the type of routes and adjustments,” a league source said. “Sometimes they just need to get the best damn players the ball and not be cute.” …

One source believed Harry had maturity issues that prevented him from putting in the work needed to get it all down. Another source felt Harry lacked work ethic and wasn’t fully committed.

A third source believed Harry’s biggest issue wasn’t learning the offense — one of the reasons Belichick drafted Harry was his intelligence — and that his maturity issues stemmed from an inability to communicate with Patriots coaches effectively. Harry wouldn’t always respond when coaches would reach out to him. He didn’t develop healthy player-coach relationships in New England. Those communication issues eventually decreased Harry's opportunities, and the Patriots stopped actively trying to find a role for him in the offense. …

And one source believed Harry could have done more to get on the same page as his legendary quarterback. Two sources noted that McDaniels holds his players to a high standard, and if mistakes lead to a demotion, it can take a while to get back in favor.

“New England is a tough place for young players, not just because of the terminology, but it’s because if you mess up, you’re out,” one source said. “They’ll pull you out of the game.”

There's a whole trunkload to unpack here, so let me take them in small bites. 

First of all, it's self-evident that a lot of receiver problems in New England can be traced to the complexities of the system. For every Troy Brown, David Patten or Danny Amendola who thrives in it, there are twice as many busts who can never grasp the concepts of a scheme that places so much emphasis on reading coverages, running a particular route based on how the defense is playing you, and adjusting in the precise way the quarterback expects you to. And reports coming out of Foxboro that they're simplifying the calls and the nomenclature somewhat would seem to indicate the team recognizes how difficult it is to pick up and wants to increase the population of receivers who are capable. 

Second, if there's a criticism of Tom Brady's unparalleled career that might be legitimate, it's that he tended to get frustrated with a new receiver too quickly and freeze him out. And it did seem as though once he lost faith in you, you were done. His Circle of Trust was like a Mob family; getting in was hard, and getting back in once the Don felt betrayed was damned near impossible. One notable exception was Malcolm Mitchell in 2016, who went through a seven game stretch in his rookie year with all of nine targets. But by Super Bowl LI was back in the GOAT's good graces, with six catches on eight targets, four of them for 1st downs. But examples such as his are few and far between. Historically, once you're out, you're out. 

The problem with cutting Harry slack on either of these points is that he had three seasons to figure it out. And there's no blaming Brady because he was only around for one of them. When you've gone through three different QB1s and can't produce for any of them, that's a YOU problem. You become like one of those guys who every girl he dates is a bitch or one of those women who every guy she goes out with is an asshole. That article includes a chart that shows Harry has had the ninth lowest rate of targets with a step or more of separation in the league since 2019, with just 61.6%. (DeVante Parker is lowest at just 49.0%, but that's a concern for another time.)

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No, there'll be no letting Harry off the hook, given the rest of what these sources are claiming. Maturity issues. Lack of a work ethic. Communication problems between him and the coaching staff. You can hold the Patriots willingness to demote a guy who's struggling or move on from him altogether. But that philosophy has also been a strength. When guys have been unable to keep up or lacked interest in putting in as much work as possible to figure it out, they've moved on from him. Regardless of how he ended up in Foxboro or how much he was getting paid. Instead of hanging onto a distressed asset because they're afraid someone will look bad (like the GM) if he fails, they get what they can for him and find someone with the drive to be the best he can. 

N'Keal Harry was clearly not that player. And so they'd rather have a 2024 pick somewhere in the 230s than try to get blood from his former first round stone. It's regrettable. But based on this report, it's entirely on him.