New England Patriots: N’Keal Harry working his way to big role in 2019

New England Patriots rookie wide receiver N’Keal Harry could end up being a critical piece of the team’s plans in the 2019 season.

At Arizona State, N’Keal Harry was the big man on campus, jersey number one, the alpha in the offense, and the star prospect everyone in the country was talking about.

On the New England Patriots, he’s just a rookie wide receiver wearing the ugly jersey number 50, trying to work his way to a prominent role in the offense.

Bill Belichick’s teams, more than probably any other in sports, are the embodiment of playing the best 11 guys on either side of the ball, regardless of your draft status, your history with the team, whether you were brought in via trade or free agency, or whatever the case may be.

You earn your keep in New England, and Harry is adapting to that new culture. So far, so good.

Although Harry and other Patriots rookies are going into training camp wearing ugly jersey numbers, which signify the fact that your jersey number doesn’t matter — your play matters, it seems he’s quickly getting opportunities with the number one offense and working his way to a prominent role in 2019.

I guess if you’re the first wide receiver ever taken in the first round by Bill Belichick, you had probably be ready to play as a rookie.

Harry is undoubtedly capable of that, and as exciting of a receiver as he is, it could be his run blocking prowess that allows him to play with the starting offense right away.

The Patriots, as much as any team in the NFL if not more so, love to get the ball out to their running backs in the passing game and they can run the ball well with the hogs they have up front.

Harry is a fantastic blocker on the outside and has the type of attitude to make that a prominent part of his game as a rookie.

New England’s depth chart at receiver is nothing to write home about at this point. Julian Edelman has missed plenty of time over the past few years due to injuries or suspension, and he’s 33 now.

Demaryius Thomas was acquired in free agency, but who knows how he’s going to be coming off of an Achilles injury?

Phillip Dorsett has proven to be an adequate WR4 or WR5, but he’s not going to eat up targets in this offense.

The Patriots signed Cameron Meredith to try and add some depth along with Dontrelle Inman, and they obviously hope at some point that Josh Gordon can return to the team. He’s applied for reinstatement to the league after yet another suspension.

The Patriots don’t have Rob Gronkowski anymore, either, so their pass catching department has taken some serious hits this offseason and all of it has led to Harry becoming an alpha in this offense sooner rather than later.