I felt like this deserved its own thread.

He comes over from the Pats, been in the doghouse for most of his career.

This is what they were saying about him before last season:

Quote

N’Keal Harry has struggled in his two seasons with route running being a big issue. Harry has been open on just 25.5% of his targets against single coverage, 99th out of 100 qualifiers.

It looks like the Pats tried to have him do too much. If the Bears can shrink his responsibilities and routes, he may be more productive.

He’s an outside receiver and appears to thrive with 50/50 balls. There were a few more complimentary highlights on a story I read about him earlier but this one piqued my interest.  (It also illustrates a ‘short route’). 

And the rest of the story (with highlights) here:  https://www.bleachernation.com/bears/2022/07/13/nkeal-harry-welcomed-himself-to-chicago-so-lets-watch-some-highlights/

Mooney is not really an inside route guy, Harry seems to fill that roll. Quick slant stuff. Once he gets the inside shoulder he can win the route.

1 hour ago, adam said:

Harry seems to fill that roll. Quick slant stuff. Once he gets the inside shoulder he can win the route.

Hmm…would’ve thought for sure that would be more Pringle.  Especially given the highlights where he looked good on those routes.  

Mooney , Jones, Pringle, and Sharpe make it. Pettis or Moore and St Brown or Harry round out our top 6. IMO.

12 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Hmm…would’ve thought for sure that would be more Pringle.  Especially given the highlights where he looked good on those routes.  

They both can be, Pringle is 6'1" 200 lbs, Harry is 6'4" 225 lbs. Mooney is 5'11" 180 lbs. Mooney is not built for the underneath stuff.

Jones at 200 lbs can handle the underneath stuff and mainly will be playing out of the slot. 

14 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

Jones at 200 lbs can handle the underneath stuff and mainly will be playing out of the slot. 

Anecdote of the day.   N’Keal Harry at 24 and in his fourth year with the NFL is still younger than Rookie Velus Jones at 25.  

15 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

Mooney , Jones, Pringle, and Sharpe make it. Pettis or Moore and St Brown or Harry round out our top 6. IMO.

I'm not that high on Sharpe.  He should be clustered with the last 4 IMO and we've only got 3 locks at this point.   I will say if you're going to be stuck with average or below average WRs (we will be) then you might as well keep the guys who can run block well.  With a suspect Oline that at least opens the door to more success on WR screens.  Or improves YAC for RBs on short routes which figures to be a big part of the offense.   

Jones , Pringle and Mooney are our speed guys. Sharpe at 6'2" has had more production than St Brown and Harry combined. Not as much upside but a reliable #4 at worst. Pettis is a wildcard, hopefully he shines. 

I think in this offense Kmet and our rbs have a big input as you suggest. 

According to Heavy (not sure on their reputability) Hub Arkush is speculating the Bears could tinker with the idea of having Harry play (at least try out) the ‘U TE’ position as they don’t really have one currently on the roster.  There may have been some discussion about it while he was with the Pats too.  
 

Not being a particularly good route runner, with his size and penchant for blocking this theory does make some sense.  It’s also along the lines of the (recently popular) Deebo Samuel model used in SF.

https://heavy.com/sports/chicago-bears/hub-arkush-nkeal-harry-tight-end/

56 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

According to Heavy (not sure on their reputability) Hub Arkush is speculating the Bears could tinker with the idea of having Harry play (at least try out) the ‘U TE’ position as they don’t really have one currently on the roster.  There may have been some discussion about it while he was with the Pats too.  
 

Not being a particularly good route runner, with his size and penchant for blocking this theory does make some sense.  It’s also along the lines of the (recently popular) Deebo Samuel model used in SF.

https://heavy.com/sports/chicago-bears/hub-arkush-nkeal-harry-tight-end/

I was thinking exactly this, especially in the Red Zone.

54 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

According to Heavy (not sure on their reputability) Hub Arkush is speculating the Bears could tinker with the idea of having Harry play (at least try out) the ‘U TE’ position as they don’t really have one currently on the roster.  There may have been some discussion about it while he was with the Pats too.  
 

Not being a particularly good route runner, with his size and penchant for blocking this theory does make some sense.  It’s also along the lines of the (recently popular) Deebo Samuel model used in SF.

https://heavy.com/sports/chicago-bears/hub-arkush-nkeal-harry-tight-end/

TE is going to be an interesting group to watch. With Blasingame in as FB, the TEs probably lose the JP Holtz spot. That leaves Kmet, Griffin, O'Shaughnessy and probably Chase Allen. If they consider Harry as a TE, they may only go with 3 traditional TEs, which seems very low. 

I think the extra back means they only keep 3 TEs , so Harry could fill in there.

I think what Hub is stating is being taken a little beyond the intent.  Harry hasn't been with the team all offseason so we can start there:  He doesn't know the offense.  He's never played TE and that's a notoriously difficult role to learn because of the mesh between blocking assignments with the Oline and route running.  There's only so much time in the day to work on these things and WRs are full time on route running and Oline are fulltime on blocking. 

I think what Hub said is splitting hairs somewhat.  If I label Harry a WR and he lines up in the slot how is that different him being a U TE lined up in the slot?  Maybe they do some stuff with him coming behind the line in motion as a blocker, not much different from either a WR or TE.  The bottom line for me is that he's here to block first and then hopefully catch some passes here and there.     Job one is to make the team.  

I'm just reading more tea leaves from Poles comments today but it sure seems like Harry was high on the Chiefs radar when he was in the draft.  There's certainly nothing special in Harry's NFL portfolio worthy of that statement.   

https://bearswire.usatoday.com/lists/bears-training-camp-takeaways-report-day-ryan-poles-justin-fields/

Poles wouldn’t speculate about Harry’s failures in New England. Instead, he’s giving Harry a fresh start in Chicago after seeing what he brings to the table.

“I wasn’t in that building or anything. I just know what he’s capable of,” Poles said. “And I want to give him the opportunity to come here and show what he can do and get things on the right path.”

5 hours ago, AZ54 said:

I'm just reading more tea leaves from Poles comments today but it sure seems like Harry was high on the Chiefs radar when he was in the draft.  There's certainly nothing special in Harry's NFL portfolio worthy of that statement.   

https://bearswire.usatoday.com/lists/bears-training-camp-takeaways-report-day-ryan-poles-justin-fields/

Poles wouldn’t speculate about Harry’s failures in New England. Instead, he’s giving Harry a fresh start in Chicago after seeing what he brings to the table.

“I wasn’t in that building or anything. I just know what he’s capable of,” Poles said. “And I want to give him the opportunity to come here and show what he can do and get things on the right path.”

Its like bringing in a rookie, his projection was based on his production in college, that is why he was a high pick. Odds are against him but Akeim Hicks was in the NE system and they didnt value him. From the start he at least gives you WR blocking at a high level and then they will see if he can fit in the passing game.

2 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

Its like bringing in a rookie, his projection was based on his production in college, that is why he was a high pick. Odds are against him but Akeim Hicks was in the NE system and they didnt value him. From the start he at least gives you WR blocking at a high level and then they will see if he can fit in the passing game.

It is a system thing too. Like you said, Hicks didn't work out for NE but was a beast with us. I am sure Harry is better than he has shown in NE, but once in that doghouse, it is almost impossible to get out. 

26 minutes ago, adam said:

I am sure Harry is better than he has shown in NE, but once in that doghouse, it is almost impossible to get out. 

So true.  The story out of NE is that he never made the jump.  Let's see.

1 hour ago, Mongo3451 said:

So true.  The story out of NE is that he never made the jump.  Let's see.

He is not a full route tree guy, but I think we can get some decent production out of him as a WR3.

Harry had surgery that is supposed to speed up the healing process.  Out 8 weeks and almost certainly an IR candidate.   If you're curious like me and don't mind watching surgeries involving drill bits there are videos.  

https://www.arthrex.com/foot-ankle/tightrope