Patriots Draft Arizona State WR N'Keal Harry

The New England Patriots selected Arizona State wide receiver N'Keal Harry with the No. 32 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Harry (6’3/228) is a physical 21-year-old wideout who maximizes his size and athleticism.

Harry addresses a major need for the Patriots, who lost Rob Gronkowski (retirement) and Chris Hogan (free agency) in the offseason. With WR Josh Gordon suspended indefinitely, Harry has the opportunity to make an immediate impact in his rookie season in New England.

The Patriots selected ASU's N'Keal Harry with their first pick of the 2019 NFL Draft. (Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)

In three years with the Sun Devils, Harry, a two-time All-Pac-12 selection, logged 2,889 receiving yards and 22 touchdowns. He averaged 13.6 yards per reception and caught 85% of his targets. Harry recorded an impressive 7.1 yards-after-catch (YAC) this past season.

#ArizonaState WR N'Keal Harry is a unique player. He's built like a downfield threat as a jump ball guy but he might be the best YAC receiver in the class. He's impossible to bring down because of his frame/strength and his moves and vision in the open field are superb. pic.twitter.com/0TIs8gYPj4

— Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) February 9, 2019

A versatile player, Harry can line up as an outside receiver and in the slot. He is an elite route runner who has great hands.

Good night.@NkealHarry15 | #PatsDraft
pic.twitter.com/jKPKkabsRb

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 26, 2019

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will love throwing to Harry. According to Pro Football Focus, Harry had the third-most contested catches in the NCAAF over the past two seasons and ranked first with a 57.5 contested catch percentage.

Harry is the first wide receiver taken in the first round in the Bill Belichick era. The last time the Patriots picked a wideout in the first round was 1996, when they drafted Terry Glenn with the 7th overall pick. Harry was one of just two receivers selected in the opening round of the 2019 NFL Draft, as the Baltimore Ravens nabbed Oklahoma WR Marquise Brown with the 25^th overall pick.

Panthers Sign Chris Hogan

The Carolina Panthers have signed veteran free-agent receiver Chris Hogan to a one-year deal, according to multiple reports. Hogan spent the previous three years with the New England Patriots, reaching the Super Bowl in each season and winning the Lombardi Trophy twice.

Hogan struggled as the Patriots' featured wideout in 2018 when Julian Edelman was suspended for the first four games of the season for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances. Having trouble breaking through the Patriots' undermanned receiver corps all year, Hogan caught just 35 passes and three TDs. He did turn those catches into 532 yards (15.2 yards per reception) and remained a deep-threat option because of his physical frame. The 6'1"/215 lb wideout could provide a red zone option for Panthers QB Cam Newton.

Turning 32 in October, Hogan will be the oldest wide receiver on Carolina's roster. D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel are the featured wideouts for the Panthers, while Hogan and 30-year-old Torrey Smith will play complementary roles.

Hogan accumulated 107 receptions for 1,651 yards and 12 touchdowns in 40 regular-season games for the Patriots from 2016-18 . 

Hogan will be best remembered for his incredible performance in the 2016 AFC Championship against the Pittsburgh Steelers. In the Patriots' victory over the Steelers, Hogan registered nine receptions for 180 yards—a single-game playoff franchise record for receiving yards—with two touchdowns.

Chris Hogan is Bill Belichick's Latest Under-The-Radar Free Agent Find

            Add Chris Hogan to the long list of players whose careers have been revitalized by Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.

            The star of the 2016 AFC Championship, Hogan spent the first two years of his career in-and-out of three practice squads. He had short stints with the San Francisco 49ers (2011), New York Giants (2011) and Miami Dolphins (2012). Cut three times in two years, he latched onto the Buffalo Bills' active roster in 2013. Hogan was merely a complimentary receiver for Buffalo, catching 87 passes and just six touchdowns over three seasons.

            With a historic outing in the AFC Title Game, Hogan stamped his place in New England’s successful lineage of castoffs—Dion Lewis and Wes Welker to name a few—to thrive in the team’s lethal offense. After a solid regular season in which he posted four TDs and led all NFL receivers with 17.9 yards per catch, Hogan had his coming out party against the Pittsburgh Steelers, hauling in nine passes for 180 yards—a Patriots postseason record—with two touchdowns as New England cruised to a 36-17 victory.

Chris Hogan celebrates his first touchdown of the AFC Title Game. (Matt Freed/Post Gazette)

            The 28-year-old receiver played just one year of collegiate football for Monmouth College, where he recorded only 12 receptions. And yet, here was Hogan playing the leading role for the annual powerhouse Patriots with a Super Bowl berth on the line. Easily eluding the Steelers’ secondary all night long, Hogan helped propel the Patriots to an NFL-record ninth Super Bowl appearance. The Patriots are set to battle the NFC Champion Atlanta Falcons in what should be a shootout between two high-powered offenses.

            Hogan excels in creating separation and finding open space. But Pittsburgh’s defense made the wideout look like a superstar, often forgetting to cover the guy who was torching their secondary all game long. Their zone defense was pathetic and quarterback Tom Brady and Hogan took advantage, cashing in on chunk gains of 26, 22, 34, 24, 16 and 39 yards.

            Putting on a clinic in front of a rowdy Gillette Stadium crowd, Hogan will forever cherish this performance.

            “It’ll be something that definitely I’ll remember for the rest of my career and probably for the rest of my life,” Hogan said after the game. “Someone told me that this was going to be a game that you’ll look back on 30 years from now and you’ll remember exactly what happened, and I’m just happy for our group. Everyone. All these guys in the locker room, coaches. We’ve worked so hard to get here and I’m just so happy I was able to help this team.”

            A week after corralling four receptions for 95 yards against the No. 1 ranked Houston Texans defense, Hogan is now averaging 137.5 receiving yards per contest in the postseason. Not bad for a lacrosse-turned-football player who played the majority of his snaps of his lone season at Monmouth at cornerback, did not get an invite to the NFL combine, failed to record a single snap with the 49ers, Giants and Dolphins, and was gladly let go by the Bills in the offseason.