Fantasy postmortems can be fun or torturous this time of year. Even if your team was a league-winner, looking back at draft whiffs can be humbling, and we all miss to varying degrees.
The same can be said of NFL teams, and that's especially topical now for fans of the New England Patriots. The Patriots theoretically tried to address a shortage of offensive playmakers by drafting wideout N'Keal Harry 32nd overall last April. A few flashes aside, Harry has been mostly injured or unimpressive.
The Titans, the team the Patriots face on Saturday night, drafted A.J. Brown 19 picks later. Brown has been one of the league's most impressive playmakers down the stretch, averaging 20.2 yards on his 52 catches, plus another 60 yards on three rushes, scoring nine touchdowns overall and finishing No. 21 in PPR among receivers. And that's in a lower-volume passing attack that only targeted him 84 times, 61st across the league for 2019, making Brown's production even more remarkable.
Harry only had 12 catches on his 24 targets over seven games. The comparison has been stark so far, and is now a rueful storyline in New England going into this playoff game.
Brown was graded as the ninth-best NFL receiver of 2019 by Pro Football Focus. The top-graded Patriots receiver was Julian Edelman, and he ranked 46th. Harry didn't play enough because of injury to get a full grade.
In Harry's defense, the Patriots offense offers a notoriously tough learning curve for young receivers (and/or the Pats have repeatedly drafted the wrong receivers), but the look so far isn't pretty.
Brown already is locked in as Tennessee's No. 1 receiver, and there are so many other rookie receivers who also made big contributions in 2019. Among them:
- Deebo Samuel, drafted 36th overall, could become the Niners' No. 1 soon after impressing this season with 802 yards receiving, 159 yards rushing and six touchdowns overall.
- D.K. Metcalf, drafted No. 56 overall, started most of the season for an 11-5 Seahawks team and had 58 catches for 900 yards and seven touchdowns.
- Terry McLaurin, drafted 76th overall, now looks like the No, 1 receiver in Washington after posting 58 catches for 919 yards and seven touchdowns.
- Darius Slayton, drafted No. 171 overall, might be soon the Giants' No. 1 after catching 48 passes for 740 yards and eight touchdowns in 14 games.
Here's how these rookie receivers ranked in PPR Fantasy points per game:
- McLaurin: 13.3
- Brown: 13.1
- Slayton: 11.9
- Samuel: 11.8
- Metcalf: 11.2
- Harry: 5.0
Things might well improve for Harry, who ranked fifth among the 2019 rookie wide receiver class for 2020 in Chris Towers' Rookie Report Card. But it feels like a big miss in New England a year after the Patriots drafted Sony Michel at No. 31 overall over fellow Georgia star Nick Chubb (who went No. 35), and a pick before the Ravens drafted presumptive MVP Lamar Jackson at No. 32.
Not to rub in any extra salt, New England, but Chubb was graded by Pro Football Focus as their clear No. 1 running back of 2019. Michel ranked 32nd.
