2019 NFL Draft Scouting Report: N'Keal Harry, Arizona State

Where does Arizona State’s N’Keal Harry project in the 2019 NFL Draft?

One potential draft prospect that has been building buzz so far the 2019 NFL Draft is junior N’Keal Harry. According to Tony Pauline, the Arizona State wide receiver is expected to forgo his senior season and leave for the 2019 NFL Draft after the college football season.

The 20-year-old 6’4″ 213 lb. receiver is a freak of nature with his measurables and started his freshman year in 2016, earning Freshman All- American (Scout, Football Focus, Campus Insiders), and earned First Team All Pac-12 in 2017.

Harry cracked over 1,000 yards receiving and 50 catches last year with 1,142 yards and 82 catches in 2017 as it was third most in Arizona State history for receptions in a single season. He is a big red zone threat with underrated quickness, catching 13 touchdowns between 2016 to 2017.

This year, he has 34 catches for 481 yards and six touchdowns from scrimmage in six games, picking up where he left off last year.

Strengths

N’Keal Harry is very versatile in the Arizona State offense/ special teams. They usually scheme him to be open in the backfield on end arounds, pitches, tosses, and even in the wildcat formation as the quarterback.

Harry is also the punt returner, as he can make plays with his quickness and has been the main starter as the X-receiver for Arizona State. They try to get him the ball in his hands, as he is an explosive playmaker and upside is high with his size and speed combination. He can be really efficient in the red zone as a reliable target but has the ability to take a short pass to the end zone as well.

Short Passing Game

Harry is known as a human highlight reel for contested catches but he also is a playmaker in space. This year against UTSA this year Harry shows off his footwork, elusiveness, and quickness to avoid defenders as he takes it to the house. For a big wide receiver that is not the fastest guy on the field, Harry has great deep speed with his long strides on deep passes but has underrated playmaking ability in the short passing game.

Catch in Traffic

Harry has great concentration and strong hands. He has great hand usage in setting himself up in the best place to get the ball without the defenders to touch it first. Harry uses his size and strength to not get knocked down before the ball reaches his hands. He makes many contested catches like these as jump ball specialist but has the quickness to be a threat anywhere on the field in many different situations.

Even though Harry does not have elite speed, he can still make defenders pay if they are not careful. Against Oregon in 2017, he burns the defensive back and tracks the ball well as the quarterback massively underthrows it, but Harry stays put and is physical when going up for it.

Even though the defensive back is on him when he goes back to the ball, he still can catch it even though they flag the defender for a penalty. Harry displays potential as a deep play threat most of the time and can stretch a defense down the field regardless of his speed compared to other receivers.

Catch Radius

Against N.C. State in 2017 with the defender right on him with good coverage, Harry makes a spectacular catch as he shows his catch radius in catching a ball that was slightly overthrown. Even though he made be covered, he really is not as he can make on the ball when given the chance. Harry was in the slot on this play as he can create mismatches with his size and speed matching up with nickel cornerbacks and safeties.

Weaknesses

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N’Keal Harry does struggle with press coverage and separating against faster defensive backs down the field on the outside as he does play better on the inside in the slot. Harry can separate but tougher competition has slowed his production down. He has just enough speed to potentially play on the outside as a top receiver at the next level but if he wants to do that, route running is something he will have to work on as he ran a few basic routes with little complexity.

Effort and run blocking are also something I noticed in his tape as he is not very physical or willing to run block at times for a big receiver and sometimes has times where he does not bring the effort he had the previous play. Harry can attack the ball at the highest point and has strong hands but he does body catch quite a lot. This caused him to drop some, but very few, passes, but it is not that big of an issue compared to other receivers.

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Draft Projection

If N’Keal Harry declares this year for the 2019 NFL Draft, I would not be surprised to see him be the first wide receiver taken and potentially in the top-ten of the first.

Teams that could use a big wide receiver and potential number one target in their offense include the 49ers, Colts, Cardinals, Cowboys, Bills, Packers, Titans, and Ravens.

He does have some work to do this year if he wants to be the first wide receiver taken but his potential is through the roof if he shows up in the remaining games for college football at Arizona State.

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2019 NFL Draft Scouting Report: N’Keal Harry, Arizona State

By Andrew Kim | Oct 12, 2018