TEMPE – Sun Devil Football wide receiver N'Keal Harry capped off the opening night of the 2019 NFL Draft with a flourish as he was selected with the 32nd overall pick in the First Round by the defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots on Thursday evening.
Harry is the 25th Sun Devil to be drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft and the first wide receiver to go since Aaron Cox was selected 20th overall by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1988 Draft. He was the second wide receiver selected overall in the 2019 NFL Draft. He is the first ASU first round selection since defensive back Damarious Randall went 30th overall to the Green Bay Packers in the 2015 NFL Draft.
Harry became the 250th Sun Devil to be selected in the professional draft.
Harry also made a bit of history on Thursday as he became the first wide receiver to be selected in the first round by the Patriots in the Bill Belichick-era. The last time New England had selected a wide receiver in the first round was Terry Glenn in 1996.
Harry joined Cox, John Jefferson (1978) and Steve Holden (1973) as the only other Sun Devil wide receivers in history to be selected in the first round. Charley Taylor was drafted in the first round and would go on to becoming an NFL Hall of Famer, but was drafted out of ASU as a halfback. Sun Devil wide receivers in the NFL (including Taylor) have combined for 47,823 receiving yards and 334 receiving touchdowns.
Arizona State wide receivers selected in the first round
N'Keal Harry – New England Patriots, 32ndoverall, 2019
Aaron Cox – Los Angeles Rams, 20thoverall, 1988
John Jefferson – San Diego Chargers, 14thoverall, 1978
Steve Holden – Cleveland Brown, 16thoverall, 1973
Harry finished his career third in program history in both career receptions (213) and career receiving yards (2,889). That latter tally was within 50 yards of second in program history, despite the fact that seven of ASU's 10 all-time leading receivers achieved their final tallies in four seasons.
He finished with over 1,000 receiving yards in his sophomore and junior seasons, joining Jaelen Strong, Derek Hagan and Shaun McDonald as the only other Sun Devils to post consecutive 1,000+ seasons as a wide receiver.
Harry was a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award this season for the nation's top wide receiver and was a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award, presented annually to the most versatile player in college football.
Harry added three rushing touchdowns a punt return touchdown in his career at ASU and finished with a career 11.8 average on punt returns. He finished with over 3,000 career all-purpose yards (86.4 yards per game), becoming one of just eight Sun Devils in history to accomplish the feat with a career of three or fewer seasons at ASU.
Harry had a reception in all 37 games of his career at Arizona State. He was seventh in the Pac-12 Conference with 104.17 all-purpose yards per game. He was among the top four wide receivers in the Pac-12 in touchdowns, receiving yards and receptions.
Harry posted an 83.9 overall grade from Pro Football Focus during the regular season, among the Top-15 highest graded wide receivers nationally and the seventh-highest graded offensive player in the Pac-12 – regardless of position. Following the regular season, Harry was in the Top-30 nationally in receiving touchdowns (9/21st), receiving yards (1,088/15th), receiving yards per game (90.7/18th) and receptions per game (6.1/24th).
Harry had a 119.0 Pro Football Focus QB rating when targeted this season, good for 13th nationally among receivers that logged at least 50 percent of their team's targets during the regular season. He forced 17 missed tackles this season, which was good for ninth-most among Power Five receivers.
At 5.76 receptions per game in his career, Harry was fourth among the NCAA's active career leaders at the conclusion of his Sun Devil career. His 78.1 career receiving yards per game were sixth among all active players.
His 213 career receptions were 7th among all active players but first among players that were not seniors. All six players ahead of him in the category were seniors.
Harry is the 25th Sun Devil to be drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft and the first wide receiver to go since Aaron Cox was selected 20th overall by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1988 Draft. He was the second wide receiver selected overall in the 2019 NFL Draft. He is the first ASU first round selection since defensive back Damarious Randall went 30th overall to the Green Bay Packers in the 2015 NFL Draft.
Harry became the 250th Sun Devil to be selected in the professional draft.
Harry also made a bit of history on Thursday as he became the first wide receiver to be selected in the first round by the Patriots in the Bill Belichick-era. The last time New England had selected a wide receiver in the first round was Terry Glenn in 1996.
Harry joined Cox, John Jefferson (1978) and Steve Holden (1973) as the only other Sun Devil wide receivers in history to be selected in the first round. Charley Taylor was drafted in the first round and would go on to becoming an NFL Hall of Famer, but was drafted out of ASU as a halfback. Sun Devil wide receivers in the NFL (including Taylor) have combined for 47,823 receiving yards and 334 receiving touchdowns.
Arizona State wide receivers selected in the first round
N'Keal Harry – New England Patriots, 32ndoverall, 2019
Aaron Cox – Los Angeles Rams, 20thoverall, 1988
John Jefferson – San Diego Chargers, 14thoverall, 1978
Steve Holden – Cleveland Brown, 16thoverall, 1973
Harry finished his career third in program history in both career receptions (213) and career receiving yards (2,889). That latter tally was within 50 yards of second in program history, despite the fact that seven of ASU's 10 all-time leading receivers achieved their final tallies in four seasons.
He finished with over 1,000 receiving yards in his sophomore and junior seasons, joining Jaelen Strong, Derek Hagan and Shaun McDonald as the only other Sun Devils to post consecutive 1,000+ seasons as a wide receiver.
Harry was a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award this season for the nation's top wide receiver and was a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award, presented annually to the most versatile player in college football.
Harry added three rushing touchdowns a punt return touchdown in his career at ASU and finished with a career 11.8 average on punt returns. He finished with over 3,000 career all-purpose yards (86.4 yards per game), becoming one of just eight Sun Devils in history to accomplish the feat with a career of three or fewer seasons at ASU.
Harry had a reception in all 37 games of his career at Arizona State. He was seventh in the Pac-12 Conference with 104.17 all-purpose yards per game. He was among the top four wide receivers in the Pac-12 in touchdowns, receiving yards and receptions.
Harry posted an 83.9 overall grade from Pro Football Focus during the regular season, among the Top-15 highest graded wide receivers nationally and the seventh-highest graded offensive player in the Pac-12 – regardless of position. Following the regular season, Harry was in the Top-30 nationally in receiving touchdowns (9/21st), receiving yards (1,088/15th), receiving yards per game (90.7/18th) and receptions per game (6.1/24th).
Harry had a 119.0 Pro Football Focus QB rating when targeted this season, good for 13th nationally among receivers that logged at least 50 percent of their team's targets during the regular season. He forced 17 missed tackles this season, which was good for ninth-most among Power Five receivers.
At 5.76 receptions per game in his career, Harry was fourth among the NCAA's active career leaders at the conclusion of his Sun Devil career. His 78.1 career receiving yards per game were sixth among all active players.
His 213 career receptions were 7th among all active players but first among players that were not seniors. All six players ahead of him in the category were seniors.