New England Patriots: 3 Players who need to step up in 2020

2. N’Keal Harry

One player that appeared the scene a bit for the Patriots during the course of the 2019 season was rookie wide receiver N’Keal Harry, who ended up being a reliable target for quarterback Tom Brady outside of wide receiver Julian Edelman within the passing game.

The 22-year-old Harry put together an average rookie campaign last year after he was drafted by New England in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft out of Arizona State.

With Brady and company looking for another wide receiver to step up outside of Edelman after a few other receiving options either departed the team or battled through injury issues, and that allowed Harry to get some playing time early on in his professional career.

Harry wasn’t ultimately able to play for more than half of the regular season while also dealing with injury issues, but became an option in the passing game while appearing in a total of seven games in Foxborough. The young wideout managed to finish with 12 catches on 24 total targets, along with recording 105 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Harry also ran the ball five times for a total of 49 yards on the ground.

With a new quarterback taking things over in New England during the 2020 season, Harry will be among the main core group of wide receivers that the Patriots will look to rely on during the year. Harry, Edelman and Mohamed Sanu, among others, will likely be the group who will see the most action for New England.

Edelman, if he remains with the Patriots once again this season, will no doubt be the primary target in the passing game once again in 2020, but Harry will have to put together a healthy and dominant sophomore season in New England to help out the receiving unit during the regular season.