Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots April 30, 2019 - Tape Tuesday: N'Keal Harry

Episode Date: April 30, 2019

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Hey there everybody, welcome on into a taped Tuesday installment of the Lockdown Patriots podcast. Mark Schofield back in the big chair for today, April 30th, 2019. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I spent my Monday taking care of a sick daughter. My daughter, Samoma, is home from school on Monday, but in between naps and some bouts of illness and naps and more bouts of illness, I got a chance to do some work. I participated in my first ever Reddit AMA over on the Eagles subreddit, which was kind of fun, but I also got a chance to

watch some film. And what we're going to do today, we're going to take a look at the Patriots' first-round selection, Nikhil Harry. What I'm going to do for the rest of this week and probably into next is do some quick shows on each of the Patriots' draftees. I'm going to have a segment on my film review of them and then a segment on how they fit into what New England does schematically, what I see in their usage from their college film.

And some either route designs or concepts or schemes or coverages. Or ways I anticipate the New England Patriots using them. So the next group of shows are going to be a little bit shorter than usual. But hey, it's the off season. A man needs to sleep a little bit. I'm frankly still trying to catch up from sleep because I did not sleep Sunday night because of the Battle of Winterfell, but that's a story for another time. Before we dive into Mr. Harry, though, a reminder to follow me on Twitter,

at Mark Schofield. Please check out the work at places like InsideThePylon.com, Pro Football Weekly, The Score, Matt Waldman's Rookie Scouting Portfolio, a trio of SB Nation websites, including Big Blue View, Bleeding Green Nation, where I'm the co-host of the QB Scouts show, and of course, Pat's Pulpit. Let's dive into Nikhil Harry and his tape. And watched a couple of his games on Monday. I'm really going to sort of take you through one game of his in particular, the Arizona game, which I feel really sort of encapsulates where he is as a prospect, what he does well, what he needs to work on.

And part of the reason why I want to focus on this game in particular is this is one of the games where I have the All-22 view of it via the black market of coaches tape that, yes, does exist out there on the interwebs and so i get a chance to see him away from the ball away from the play when you watch sort of cut-ups that are done on youtube via the numerous people that do it caddy to the llama or mark jarvis or some of the great people that put together these cut-ups they're doing enough broadcast tape and they're cutting it up and while while they do tremendous work, and what we do on the outside couldn't happen without their efforts, sometimes you don't get to see the entire picture, especially when you're doing quarterbacks, wide receivers, safeties, corners,

people that might be away from the play. And so when you get a chance to watch somebody like a wide receiver via the coach's tape, you want to take advantage of it. So I'm going to work through my notes on Harry's game against Arizona. And the first thing you notice when you turn on the tape is this is a chippy dude that plays with a bit of an edge. First play I noticed of his, he was blocking away from the ball on a run and play. He blocks into and through the whistle, has some words for the defensive back after. He's somebody that's not going to shy away from blocking responsibilities.

He's not going to shy away from that, whether it's in the run game or helping his fellow receivers out. Tunnels, smokes, screens, you want to do that to take advantage of his yardage after the catch. More on that a little bit later. Against the press, you will see a variety of moves. I think, and we'll elaborate on this in a minute, but he's best when he doesn't hesitate, when he doesn't get cute. example early in this game he uses a swim move to evade the press the line of scrimmage just one step arm over and swim he gets into his route and that's when he uses a bit of his lawn speed to accelerate away from the defender on a vertical route so i like that i want to see more of that they use them all over the place again we'll talk

about this more in the next segment of the show but he was in the slot runs a post route versus a zone coverage look one step cut and go on the move i'd like to see in that does this later from the boundary a post route again one step cut and go on his break i love seeing that sometimes you see receivers use extra steps on their cuts we talked about this a little bit with irv smith jr and so i like that one step cut another dig route and in breaking route from the slot his footwork to cross up the defensive back was picturesque and then when the defensive back tries to recover by jamming him on the break he has the upper body strength to just basically absorb and go on that cut really like to see in that another play he's backside against the press they're running the tunnel screen away from him but here we see a lot of steps at the release.

He evades the press, but he uses a bunch of chop steps. Two, three, four, five, six, seven chops, and then he goes. That delays things. It doesn't matter here, but it'll matter in a minute. Again, another note I have on one of these next plays, he plays with some fire. He will block into and beyond the whistle. I like seeing that from a wide receiver.

Just because your number isn't called, just because you're not involved in the scope of the play, doesn't mean you get a chance to take the play off. I want to see you play through the whistle even if your number isn't called. He'll need to work on working himself back to the football. There is a play in this game where they're running a pout combination, a post and an out, post route from the outside receiver, out route from the inside receiver. Patriots call it pout, post and out. And he's running that out route from the slot, and he runs a fantastic route. Gets the defensive back turned, gets separation on his break, but then he rounds it off a bit. He drifts that route upfield a bit, which can be okay. But the problem is that he exacerbates

that by staying with his momentum drifting upfield rather than working back towards the throw. Then the quarterback makes a throw in his direction, but by staying upfield and drifting upfield, they're not working back towards the football. He gives the defensive back a chance to break underneath him, and he nearly picks this off. You've got to fight to the football as a receiver, so I want to see more of that from him. He never stops working, though. He never stops working, particularly scramble drill situations. If he's coming across the field, the quarterback rolls away from him. He will then stop on a dime and work back towards his quarterback always trying to get in his quarterback's field the vision i love seeing that this is why they drafted him this next play i'm going to talk about hitch route versus an

initial press look when it gets rolled i don't know if this was a route that was converted or not if it was that makes me feel even better about this pick because if they've asked him to convert some routes he's going to be doing a lot of route conversions with the patriots but he sees press look initially it rolls off of him right at the snap so he runs the hitch hands out extended bought hands catch away from the body the quick step he makes the quick stop the sudden violent stop on his route is perfect love seeing that hands catch hands extended away from the body immediate cut up field and goes he is an immediate transition from receiver to ball carrier that's a huge reason why his yardage after the catch ability is so

present with him because he immediately makes that transition from receiver to ball carrier and it shows with his yardage after the catch ability next play i want to talk about it's another example of if you don't get a jam on him he is so quick off the line of scrimmage here he runs a crosser from the left side of the formation all the way to the right he doesn't get the ball thrown to him but he should have gotten it he's deadly on crossing routes i love seeing him work shallow cross or drive concepts where he's coming across the formation at a depth of about four to six yards. If you don't get a jam on him, forget it because he gets inside of you, gets that leverage, and he just accelerates away from you. How often do we see the Patriots run shallow crossing concepts? He's going to be deadly, deadly on those.

You see the wasted steps though in a couple of plays later into this game. Wasted steps on a jam. He does this here on a red zone fade route. Running the red zone fade, you got to get into that quickly and try to get a bit of a separation because it's a short area and the quarterback's going to need to get the ball out of his hands here. Delays the play. Uses again two, three, four, five, six, seven chop steps before getting into his route. Really throws off the time and the safety is able to read it as well. And so he starts breaking before really Harry starts breaking up field. And so you got to be quicker on that. He's much better when he's decisive off the release. One or two steps, one or two moves and

go. That's what I want to see from him. When he does this chop step stuff where he gets really cute with it, that's when he delays the timing of his route, throws off the timing of the plays, and for a timing and rhythm-based offense like New England's, that's a big deal. Huge play in this game, though. He had a wheel route from the slot, sort of a peel route, where it's a post on the outside and a wheel route from the slot receiver.

He really sells this so well. He kind of slow plays that out pattern, that looking like a five yard out, and then just violently explodes upfield. Gets great separation on it. Just accelerates away from the defender. Loved that route. Again, there's another example. They run dual fade routes in the red zone, and he's still chopping his steps while the other receiver is into the end zone and waiting for the ball that's how different it is between him and some other receivers so he needs to get faster on this willing to go over the middle he does this late in the game he has a bad drop though on it a dig route versus his own coverage it's a perfect throw right to his hands but he drops it but that game against Arizona, I think, sort of sums up where he is.

Very explosive when he wants to be. If you don't jam him, he will run away from you. Sudden violent moves, especially on that hitch route. Explosive transition from receiver to ball carrier. I want to see him more decisive against the press. He can beat the press, but I want to see him be more decisive doing it. Because when he takes those chop steps, it wastes way, way, way too much time.

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service. ZipRecruiter. The smartest way to hire. Mark Schofield back with you now on this Tuesday installment of the Locked On Patriots podcast. Taking a look at Nikhil Harry, the new wide receiver for the New England Patriots drafted 32nd overall in the 2019 NFL draft. And in the first segment of the show, we took a look

at Harry and I kind of walked you through my watch of his game against Arizona, which I think again, exemplifies what he brings to the table as a wide receiver prospect, some of his strengths and some of his weaknesses. Now I want to get a little bit more specific with him talking about scheme and usage and ways i envision the new england patriots using him as a wide receiver and at the outset a couple of things i do want to mention arizona state used him on a ton of designed throws tunnels bubble screens swing screens smoke screens ways to just get the ball into his hands given his yardage after the catch ability and given his playmaking ability as a ball carrier and i think at the outset that is a relatively easy way to get him involved early and often with the patriots offense think of

the different ways they used patterson last year i think you're going to get the running ability of patterson coupled with some of the boundary and outside ability that Josh Gordon brought to the table, as well as some ability to work underneath. Those are three areas of strength I want to focus on with Harry as he transitions to life as a professional in life in the New England Patriots offense. The Sun Devils lined him up all over the field. They used him in the slot.

They used him at backside ex-ISO formations, outside in slot designs or pro formations or even trips. They even brought him inside as the number three or inside receiver in trips formations. They would use bunch formations and put him as the apex player. That's kind of the middle player, but on the line of scrimmage with everybody else off. So he could beat the press while he's creating space for the other guys. Imagine a bunch type look with him as the apex player beating the press and Edelman and Dorsett behind him getting free releases. I like the sound of that and I think you should too. Some routes that I think are very effective for him early, hitch and comeback for example, where he sells that vertical stem and then breaks back using that change of direction, that sudden stop violent stop i talked about earlier i can see him work in middle of the field

on some digs and some posts particularly against zone i think crossers shallow cross slants ideal for him because once he gets inside of you he can accelerate away from you he uses speed against you and again if he gets quicker with his releases against the press, the fade route would still be effective for him because of his ability to win in sort of contested catch situations. Let's talk specifically now some plays, some route designs. I've got the Patriots playbook up on the screen and I want to talk a couple of different concepts for him. One is stopper. That's where a two receiver combination with the outside receiver runs what the Patriots call a deep stop at a depth of about 20 to 25 yards. And the inside receiver runs an option route, six yard release. And then you either break in or break out or

curl in or curl out depending on what the coverage is. I want him on the outside running that deep stop, selling the vertical and then stopping and working back towards the quarterback with Edelman on the inside running that option route. Similarly, the Aussie route, it's what the Patriots call a retrace option route on the outside against the press coverage. You run the fade or the vertical. Otherwise, you work at a deep comeback route, either right back down the stem or basically towards the outside, depending on the leverage.

And again, you get that option route on the inside. I love the idea of pairing him with Edelman, selling some vertical stuff against the outside receiver, and then either working back or staying vertical, and then Edelman running an option route along with him. I do like the idea of working him inside. I'd like to see them use him on their chute route, C-H-U-T-E, which is basically an inside slant and you break up and then you break across again. So I'd like to see him used on the shoot route. There's a concept called hail, which is an in from the outside receiver and then that shoot route from the slot receiver. Put him in the slot, have him run that sort of shoot route, and then maybe with Demarius Thomas when he comes back gordon if he comes back or even edelman on the outside

on that sort of dig concept i think those would be a very good route design for him i'd like to see him in the slot run an indigo indigo is basically the patriots version of what's called the dagger concept where the inside receiver in the slot runs a go route or a post route if the middle of the field is open if there's a two safety look and the outside receiver runs a dig underneath it get hanneman on that dig underneath him as he sort of clears things out but if that seam route is there you get a quick little throw to him as well i would like them to use him on that kind of concept punt is another concept i want to see him used on. That's where the outside receiver runs a post and the inside receiver runs what the Patriots call an under route.

It's basically a slant and then flat across. You come inside on a slant, one step upfield to sell the slant and go, and then flat across down the line of scrimmage. And yet it's similar to that cross and route type of concept we were talking about earlier. Son, another concept the Patriots need to use him on. This time I'd like

him on the outside. Inside receiver in the slot runs a seam route, outside receiver five steps, and then right down the line of scrimmage, working that ability to run underneath. I'd love to see him work in shallow crossing type concepts against some defenses next year. Before we go, let's talk a couple of their three-man concepts. I want to talk about trench, which is basically levels. It's a three-receiver concept, run out of trips. Inside receiver runs a 12-yard dig, working the middle of the field. Middle receiver runs a three-yard underneath shallow route,

and the outside receiver runs it at five yards. I want the middle player there, the number two receiver, running that three-yard shallow down the line of scrimmage. Edelman on the inside working that 12 yard dig against either a strong safety or even a line backer and then you've got maybe dorsett or thomas on the outside or even gordon when he comes back running that five yard in cut i love those three players doing that and then their dig concept which is similar with the outside receiver again five, five yards and in. Inside receiver, three yards and in. That would be Harry.

And here, Edelman, 12-yard and then a corner route, breaking away from the concept. And so you show that trench concept a couple of times. Maybe you hit Edelman on the digs, and then you have him run the corner route. He throws, you know, you can either get Edelman on the corner to the outside, or, again, you have Harry coming down the line of scrimmage on those crossing concepts. I really like that. Z- option those again this is where you're going to get into how harry can

handle coverage situations because on both of these plays that inside receiver in the trips the number three receiver is running either that shoot route what we talked about slant breakup field and then come across or if the middle of the field is open cover two cover four no safety right in the middle of the field you're basically running at just a deep post route but i like those designs for him because he's so good on the post but he's so good on routes working across or over the middle like that shoot route i think would be a huge one for him and so those are some of the three receiver concepts i want to see him used on and that's in addition to some of the things we talked about initially the tunnels and the smokes and the swing screens just get on the

ball take advantage of his yardage after the catch ability i think he can contribute immediately with what he brings to the table and having gone through his film and then paired him with some concepts in the patriots offense very excited about pick. And so that's a quick look at Nikhil Harry. Tomorrow we're talking about Juwan Williams. Look at him, what he does well, what he might struggle with as a defensive back and ways that the Patriots can use him in their coverage schemes. We're going to work through the Patriots draft choices, looking at what they bring to the table and their traits and the Patriots playbook and how they can fit in and how they can be used right away as rookies.

That will do it for today. I will be back tomorrow. Until next time, keep it locked right here to be Mark Schofield and Locked on Patriots.