Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Trade Wide Receiver N’Keal Harry — What it Means for Harry and the Pats

Episode Date: July 14, 2022

The New England Patriots hastened the inevitable by trading much-maligned wide receiver N’Keal Harry to the Chicago Bears in exchange for a seventh-round draft selection in 2024. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Khari Thompson of WEEI. The duo provide their thoughts on what went wrong in New England, Harry’s new home in Chicago and what it all means for the future of the Patriots corps of wide receivers.Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-patriots-daily-podcast-on-the-new-england/id1140512627 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFmwg3WbfxAU3tR5Ve?si=k196wH-yRqifUcQQz8SjIQStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-patriots And follow host Mike D’Abate on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans.On Twitter: @mdabateNFLSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!DaveDownload the Dave app from the App store right now for an Extra Cash account and get up to 500 dollars instantly. For terms and conditions go to dave.com/legal. Instant transfer fees apply. Banking provided by Evolve. Member FDIC.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pats fans, they are the words you've been longing to hear. Nakiel Harry is no longer a New England Patriot. What went wrong in New England, and what does it mean for the future of the Pats Whiteouts? All that and more today with Kyrie Thompson of WEI. Stay tuned. You're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. You are Locked On Patriots,

your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful, and thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage, also your first listen every day. Remember, Locked On Patriots, free and available on all platforms, including YouTube, so download, subscribe to, and, Locked on Patriots, free and available on all platforms, including YouTube. So download, subscribe to, and follow Locked on Patriots

wherever you get your podcasts. And make sure to smash that subscribe button on YouTube. I'm your host, Mike DeBate. I cover your New England Patriots for Pat's Country of Sports Illustrated. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter at MDABATENFL. And while you're out there showing some love to the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots.

That's fans. The time for the talk is almost over. New England's rookies will report to training camp on July 19th. Week from yesterday on Tuesday, veterans required to arrive in Foxborough by July 26th. The first team practice scheduled for July 27th. And much to the delight of Patriots fans everywhere, receiver Nakheel Harry is not going to be among them.

The Patriots yesterday hastening the inevitable by trading the promising yet much maligned wide receiver to the Chicago Bears in exchange for a seventh round draft selection in 2024. And joining me here today on the pod to break it all down is truly one of our favorites here on Locked On Patriots. You know his great work previously from Boston.com. He is now the Patriots beat writer for WEEI and the host of the brand new First in Foxborough

podcast. Folks, check it out today. An amazingly talented podcast truly great listen you're gonna love it as much as i do kyrie thompson joins me today welcome back to the pod my friend good to be back my friend good to be back a little crazy in these parts but you know what it's all good we're gonna be it's it is it's always always interesting i've gone on record several times here but and say there's never a dull moment in foxborough there just really isn't and yesterday proved it you

know some of our colleagues are on vacation they actually had to break their vacation in order to report on this and uh you know nikhil harry um i've been called a Nakheel Harry apologist. I've been called a Nakheel Harry. Well, let's keep it clean because it is a clean show. But I've been called a little bit when it comes to trying to at least sing the praises when it comes to Nakheel. I've always tried to focus on the promise, the potential rather than the problem. But again, I do see where the fan base is coming from. And he's been the opposite of a fan favorite, Kyrie. He's been a punchline. He's been a punching bag. I guess the diplomatic way to put it is much maligned, as I said, to open the show today, but he's no longer a Patriot. And, you know,

expectations were simply never met with, uh, with Nikhil Harry first round draft choice, number 32 overall in the 2019 NFL draft. Believe it or not, he was the first wide receiver taken in by New England in the first round since 2000. High expectations surrounding his arrival, but Harry really had little to almost no impact over his first few seasons here in New England. And now he finds himself on his way to Chicago. You've got a little insight into the Windy City, and we're going to get to that, folks, in just a moment, because Kyrie is the perfect person to talk about where Nikhil is going now. That's all we got. University of Chicago. Hey, what's up?

Right there. Absolutely. And really, I think the football got smiled on us today, man, because we had had this plan for a little while, but this is really, I think, it's just Kitzman to be able to get it on here. But let's talk a little bit first about why Nikhil wasn't a fit in Foxborough. In your expert professional opinion, why was Nikhil Harry such a poor fit with the New England Patriots? You know, it's interesting. I just wrapped up something on this. It kind of takes the tack that honestly, I felt like in a way, and again, hindsight's 20-20, and everybody understands the draft to a certain extent is a crapshoot. And you know what? Some of the draft picks that the Patriots made this year, some of them will fail. Some of them will succeed. Some of the ones from

last year's pretty solid draft will fail. And others, obviously, we expect to succeed. But look, when it comes to Nikhil Harry, I remember going back through some of his tape last year during training camp when he dropped some weight, he came in and everybody was talking about, oh yeah, Nikhil looks like he's in great shape. And maybe this is going to be the year when he does it. And I just remember thinking to myself, like, man, like, hey, he dropped all this weight, but like, was he always this slow?

Like, and I mean, I had seen him, you know, in 2019 and 2020. But I'm just like, man, you just you just can't add any speed or quickness. I think this is kind of what he is. And I look back at his college tape and yeah, like he was physically more dominant than basically any cornerback he went up against. He dwarfed them all. He was just bigger, stronger, and he could jump over them and box them out. But he still couldn't run. I think like in the end, as I look back on it, it's like the signs were there.

The guy could not separate. He couldn't run away from people even in college when you would expect somebody of his caliber to just like be dominating thoroughly and i mean i was looking back at his testing numbers like his his 10 yard dash and and 20 yard uh you know dash splits you know he was in his testing they were bad and his shuttle time was bad his three cone was like whatever right you don't want to put too much stock in all those numbers but it just kind of goes to show that Nikhil Harry was really a one trick pony. That was really it. He was big and strong and that was it. He didn't have any other defining characteristics. And so when you had an offensive system like the Patriots had where, you know, Tom Brady is expecting guys to be able to

get where he expects them to be and get open by any means necessary. Well, Nikhil only ever had one means to get open, which is just by being big, by being 6'4 and 220, 230 pounds. And that wasn't enough. And it seemed like he just didn't mesh well with Tom Brady. And I was talking with Andy Hart from WEI about this on the latest podcast episode, that basically there was an intimidation factor with Tom Brady, like a, I can't drop this pass, or I can't screw up, or Tom's not going to throw me the ball anymore. And then after that, there was the COVID year with Cam Newton, and every receiver's numbers seemingly except Jacoby Myers were down that year. And then last year he got hurt before the season.

And when he came back, he just was relegated to being a blocker essentially, just like a, like a tight end that played on the outside. And so it's just, it's unfortunate to have seen that this was how it ended up, but it really does kind of feel like he didn't have the traits that, you know, typically a New England Patriots receiver has, which is be quick and get open and catch the football. Exactly. Yeah, I think you're absolutely spot on when it comes to that. And look, I think Mike Reese made a good point in his column last night on this as well, is that Harry really had some injury history, and you touched on this as well, having the injury last year, but he came in with a knee injury it was really it was difficult for him to ingratiate himself in and when you're

catching passes from Tom Brady I don't care who you are that's intimidating for any rookie to come in and be able to ingratiate yourself into the greatest signal caller of all time arguably unarguably in these parts but arguably in the rest of the country and you look at what he was able to do I think it really you know hampered him at point. But a lot of this has to be on the keel as well. I mean, there were times where he showed those flashes. You saw some of those brilliant catches, that contested ability, that toughness that you spoke of that made him a first round target for the New England Patriots. And look, I was in the media room when the keel was drafted in 2019. And I

remember a lot of the ripple effect going through the room was, wow, this kid is big. He's physical. He's tough. A little different than what the Patriots are used to in terms of wide receivers. This kid's going to be one that can go and match up with some of the big, tough physical corners that you're seeing in the league right now. And for whatever reason, it just never panned out. And I think you articulated some of those well, that it really was about him not being able to increase the speed it was more or less just being able to out muscle guys and that can only last for so long so never looked comfortable in the patriots offense and unfortunately for nikhil and well i guess fortunately for the fan base he's on his way to chicago folks what does it mean for nikhil harry that he will's on his way to Chicago. Folks, what does it mean for Nikhil Harry that

he will be on his way to the Chicago Bears? Well, Kyrie has some insight into that franchise in that region, and he's going to be able to lend his expertise on why or why not this might be a good fit for Nikhil Harry to get that fresh start that he's been looking for in the Windy City. But first, folks, at this time of year, it's always important to be able to put a little away. We want to do what we can to get out and enjoy the summer but level with me. We've all been in situations at some point in our lives when we might have been a little tight

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with extra cash. So if you're in a pinch and you need some extra help, download Dave and think of it as a helping hand from the future you. Download the Dave app from the App Store right now. That's D-A-V-E. Sign up for an extra cash account and get up to $500 instantly for anything that basically you need at this point. For terms and conditions, go to dave.com slash legal. Instant transfer fees apply. Banking provided by Evolve, member FDIC. That's Dave, your future you will thank you. Patriots fans, we are talking Nikhil Harry's trade to the Chicago Bears. And I am always honored, always privileged, and it's always enjoyable to welcome my good friend Kyrie Thompson of WEI and the First in Foxborough podcast.

Definitely check that out after you listen to this episode. Of course, Kyrie's doing an amazing job with that brand new Pats podcast. It'll be in your rotation. It's already in mine. I love it and you'll love it too. But we talked a little bit in the previous segment about Nikhil Harry and the fit that he had in Foxborough. And for some reason, it just never really clicked between these two sides. But that doesn't necessarily mean that Nikhil can't be a solid pro, or does it? He's on his way to a team that I know you know very well,

and it gives me the opportunity to break out a bad impression. Sorry for our listeners here. It's a team that starts with a C, ends in an O, and has a CAG in the middle of it. The Bears are the team that Kyrie is now going to enlighten us on. Well, you know, I loved those SNL jokes when I was a kid. I absolutely loved the superfan segment when George Wendt was on and Chris Fowley was at his best. I mean, you really cannot ask for better when it comes to those segments.

But all kidding aside, the Bears, I think, are intriguing to me because of Justin Fields and because of his skill set and the way he might be able to utilize nikhil harry in chicago again didn't work out here in new england doesn't mean it's not going to work out in chicago so when you look at nikhil harry's fit in his new franchise on his new roster what's realistic for bears fans now to expect from Nikhil Harry, and will it have Patriots fans scratching their head? I mean, all things considered, I think that I don't expect the world of Nikhil Harry going to the Chicago Bears. I think that, again, for the reasons that we talked about, I mean, his skill set is just kind of limited and he sort of is what he is at this point. Not to say that, you know, maybe he couldn't have used a couple of more opportunities and I mean, maybe he could still be okay, maybe decent, right? We'll see how that turns out.

But look, with the Chicago Bears, they are the complete opposite of the New England Patriots in terms of quality in their receiver room. I mean, whatever you want to say about the New England Patriots in terms of quality in their receiver room. I mean, whatever you want to say about the New England Patriots, right? Like, oh, they don't have a true number one guy, whatever, right? They have a bevy of solid guys, solid to good. And from, I feel like top to bottom, they're going to be just fine. They might even be a bit underrated. We'll see. But the Bears, they have Darnell Mooney. That's essentially it. So, and I mean, Darnell Mooney is a thousand yard receiver from a year ago, but I mean, there are a bunch of people, you know, that, that while they like his potential, like they think that he might be best suited to being a number two receiver in, in a, in a good

offense on a, on a winning football team, he would be a number two receiver rather than a number one and then aside from him you have byron pringle who just came over from the kansas city chiefs he was like a you know the fourth option over there um you know third at best but you know generally the fourth i would say then you had uh equinemius st brown who just couldn't catch on with the packers he just wasn't you know very productive and and just doesn't offer didn't offer a whole lot coming out of notre dame where he was a pretty productive player um hard to figure kind of what happened there um and then you have velas jones jr who was just taken in the third round this year the draft who's very fast very explosive good yards after catch guy but he's an

older rookie that a lot of people have doubts about because i mean it took him a while to get traction in college and again like even his final year at tennessee like you could see that he he has you know potential to be kind of a third option but But again, he didn't even really, really blow up that much, even that season. So it's really wide open there, is what I'm saying. So there's nothing stopping Nikhil Harry from potentially going into Chicago and immediately earning a role. Now, again, does that mean, I mean, he's going to go in there and catch 50 passes, 60 passes and top a thousand yards and 10 touchdowns. Like the chances of that happening, I probably have as good a chance of picking up those numbers as he does, if we're going to be honest. At the same time, that doesn't mean like he's not going to get targets and he's not going to get opportunities.

And I think with Justin Fields, he's a guy that is going to, he loves taking chances down the field. He was one of the best deep ball passers in the NFL last year, interestingly enough, despite the fact that he, that he seemed to struggle in other facets of the game. He was, he was very good and very willing to push the ball down the field and if the keel harry's just open down there one-on-one got a matchup i'm sure justin fields will look down there and be like you know what why not just chuck it up there see if his guy can go up and make a play i mean even mac jones did that during the indianapolis colts game when they were fighting to get back into that one uh in in the second half of the year uh he just chucked it down 40 yards down the field. Nikhil

Harry comes up with it and everybody was like, wow, that's it. That's what we've been waiting for. So I guess I would think that Nikhil Harry will get more chances to do that. But I think that any idea that he's going to suddenly develop into a pro bowler is incredibly far-fetched. I don't think Patriots fans need to worry about that at all. Yeah, I would agree with that. And that's just coming from someone that has sung McKeel's phrases a lot, maybe even more than I should have here on the podcast. But believe it or not, there are definite advantages and disadvantages to his going to Chicago. I like the insight that you provided because, again, it's a roster that not a whole lot of Patriots fans have a whole lot of insight into and the fact that there is a dearth of wide receiver talent in Chicago it probably spells better for him to get more opportunities more touches you'll see him

catch the ball more maybe even get into the end zone he's still got the size to be able to be an effective receiver I think both in short yardage and, like you said, down the field, trying to get that extra yardage, the 40-yard catch from Mack Jones. We all did see that last year, and that really kind of opened everyone's eyes in terms of what could have been. We just never saw it on a consistent basis here in New England, but that 6'4", 225-pound frame of his can allow him to be that. He can use that frame to work as a red zone target maybe even an outside perimeter target at times i think he's going to move between the x and the z receiver roles a little bit in chicago we'll see what he's got there but those athletic contested catches is something that i think justin fields will look to utilize and look bottom line when you have a young

quarterback looking to find his own way in the nfl sometimes those big guys you look for them whether it's in a good situation or a bad situation so he may end up getting more looks by default simply because of his size and his availability so that could lead to extra catches but i agree with you i'm not quite ready to ingratiate him into the pro bowl just yet real real quick just think about this though the potential for a nikhil harhil Harry revenge game October 24th in Foxborough? I mean, let's not trip out about it too hard. But man, wouldn't that be something, right? Nikhil Harry comes in with the Bears, who are not expected to be a great team,

but he scores a touchdown on the Patriots. Would that not be something? Yeah, it would be something. I think that's the best way to put it. You and I will be at that game, and we'll definitely do our due diligence to cover it. But if he starts racking up the end zone trips, yeah, things could get interesting on Patriot social media.

Folks, I think the chances are that are relatively low, but who knows? You never know in the world of the NFL. So that's one to keep a sharp eye on. All of a sudden, that game got a little more interesting. It was always going to be interesting for my good friend here, but now we all have something to really look at and watch Nikhil in his new threads,

his new Bears threads coming down there. No grass skirt for Nikhil, though. He's not going to be dancing the hula with Jordan anytime soon. All kidding aside, that's the fit for Nikhil Harry for the Bears. But ultimately, folks, this is Locked On Patriots. What does Nikhil Harry's trade mean for the New England Patriots wide receiver core? We tell you that when we wrap up this episode of Locked On Patriots here in just a moment with Kyrie Thompson of WEI.

Patriots fans, once again, it is a Wednesday midweek episode. Nakiel Harry no longer a Patriot, and we're breaking it all down with Kyrie Thompson, Patriots beat reporter for WEI and host of the First in Foxborough podcast. And Kyrie, we've talked about Nakiel a lot in this podcast, but Nakiel is no longer walking through that locker room door. The Patriots wide receiver core is now moving on, and the Patriots are well-stocked at wide receiver. Again, you mentioned this in the previous segment. They don't have that bona fide number one name that everybody wants to see,

but there's still a lot of talent on this roster. And from top to bottom, this creates additional opportunity now for guys to come in. When you look at New England's wide receiver core, who benefits most and what does this mean overall for that wide receivers run? So it's interesting. It's interesting to kind of view it through that lens because in a lot, I had completely written to kill Harry off. If I'm going to be completely honest with you,

I wasn't even factoring him in as a member of this team, whether it was, I mean, kudos to them, by the way, kudos to the Patriots for getting anything back for him. Like, yeah, essentially they, they like got him for a bag of Doritos, like the NFL, like, you know, equivalent of a bag of chips, but at the same time, it's, it's not, it's nothing. Right. So at the same time it it's it's not it's nothing right so at the same time when when you look at this um i would probably say taekwon thornton would be an interesting name to keep in mind with here because in the end davante parker you brought him in to start i mean it's as simple as that like he's going to be the version he's going to be what they wanted nikhil harry to be except that we already know that devontae parker can do that

because he's done it before when he's been on the football field nothing nothing was really going to change that much i think with nelson agalor um you know jacoby myers and kendrick board like they're fairly established though again you could say you know, you know, uh, Nelson Aguilar's role could change because you have Devante Parker, right. And, and, and you have an X receiver. So I guess if you want to say Nelson Aguilar, if you have an X receiver that can actually function the way they're supposed to, right. Then that means Nelson Aguilar doesn't have to do that. Right. And, and so that you can move him around. Now you can move him throughout the formation. He can, he can be in the slot, which is where he's better. Last year he was in, he was on the outside, like 90% of his snaps. And he really just, he was used often as a decoy because they didn't really have anybody else that could do it. They had no other speed options. But the reason I say Taekwon Thornton might be that name, even though Nelson Aguilar might be the one who benefits more in the immediate sense,

Taekwon Thornton is going to be on this team. It's as simple as that. Now, with him in the fold, you can bring him along slowly if you want. And I mean like maybe you could say you could have done that if nicole harry was there but but him being on the on the squad and being like kind of the fifth option and now having somebody like a trey nixon or a a ty montgomery and a little bit further down the totem pole it gives you a little bit more opportunity and more incentive to maybe put tyquan thornton on the field on occasion and see like, you know what? Like, okay, like we we've got four established guys here. We don't need to try to get Nikhil Harry involved to justify the fact that he's still on this roster.

Right. So, so it, it gives them an opportunity to be like, you know what? Okay. We got, we got a chance for a shot play coming up right here. Why don't we put Tyquan Thornton on the field? See what he can do. See if he can draw attention. See if he can get open, right? So him being the fifth receiver now, as opposed to the sixth receiver, you know, kind of hovering down where he almost certainly would have just been redshirted, right? Where like he might not have even been active. And maybe there'll be times where he is inactive depending on what the Patriots want to do but i mean i feel like this makes it a bit more likely that thornton will be active for games now the question is how do you use him on offense we've already got a hint of how he'll be used on special teams he was doing, he was functioning as a punt gunner in minicamp and

a little bit also in OTAs. And I got to tell you, it's fun watching him run down the field and punt coverage. I mean, especially with Jake Bailey, putting it up there the way he can. I mean, there are just so many times like Thornton's just down there, like before the ball arrives, right? Cause he's just so fast, But I think it almost gives you a little bit more incentive to actually see what you've got in him in a limited fashion. Great point. And I think Thornton is the guy as well. I completely see your point on that, and I agree with it. Look, a lot of people have said, well, getting rid of Harry, and you're essentially swapping out Nikhil Harry for Devante Parker, and Parker is going to give you what Harry thought, or what everyone thought Harry should Devante Parker and Parker is going to give you what Harry

thought or what everyone thought Harry should give you and you articulated that well I agree with you I don't think it's quite a like for like because we all knew that Parker had the size the skill set and the proven resume really I think is the big thing here to tell you that he was coming in to be a starter just like you said it's not necessarily that Harry has moved out because Parker is in I think Harry was on the outside looking in even before the Parker trade yeah it's a matter of who's going to benefit from that roster spot that Nikhil Harry took up last year and I agree with you you're going to see a little bit more Taekwon Thornton on the field does this open the door to the possibility of guys like Trey Nixon, Christian Wilkerson, really competing seriously for a roster spot. And I know these guys have been mini camp standouts, but it doesn't

necessarily translate to that success on the field. So I'm definitely intrigued by what this means for Thornton. I'm intrigued by what it means for Parker, Aguilar, Bourne, Myers. You mentioned the ripple effect with Aguilar. I think that's interesting as well. All we know is that the wide receiver core is going to be heavily watched throughout the year and throughout training camp especially. And Kyrie and I will have our sharp eyes fixated on the wide receiver core for all of you as we continue our camp coverage and into the preseason and regular season, my friend. Always an honor. Always a privilege when you drop by the pod. For the benefit of our new listeners, please let everyone know where they can find you, what you have coming on the horizon, including your new venture, which is absolutely crushing it, my friend.

No, I appreciate it. I appreciate it. You can follow me at KDThompson5, and you can follow the First and Foxborough podcast on Twitter and Instagram as well, at First and Foxborough. That's F-O-X-B-O-R-O. The actual podcast name has the UGH on there. That's more of an Odyssey thing. But yeah, it's live.

It's going well. And I'm working on this episode that I'm expecting to drop tomorrow. I mean, there might be somebody that you've heard of coming up on there. I mean, I think you should tune in and check it out. You can listen to it on the Odyssey app and wherever you get your podcasts. Listen, subscribe, download, do all that.

My friend is being way too kind. It was truly my honor, truly my privilege to join Kyrie on the pod this week. I am looking forward to that episode dropping. And it was only more than hospitable of me to extend the invitation this week. I am looking forward to that episode dropping, and it was only more than hospitable of me to extend the invitation in return, and it's always my honor and privilege to share the microphone with you, my friend. Thank you for dropping by Locked On Patriots, lending your

wisdom and counsel and your expertise the way only you can. Can't wait to see you in a couple weeks at training camp. Can't wait to continue to cover this team, and folks, thank you all once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and also your first listen every day.

And now that you've made Locked On Patriots your first listen, make your second listen. Our good friends over at Locked On NFL. All the major NFL storylines are all covered each and every day. Our great Locked On NFL hosts have you covered for anything and everything NFL. So make sure to smash the subscribe button on YouTube

and download wherever you get your podcasts. On behalf of Kyrie Thompson of WEI, I'm Mike DeBate. Thank you once again for continuing to make Locked On Patriots that daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Until tomorrow, Foxborough faithful, stay safe, stay well, be the change that you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.