{"id":66427,"date":"2019-06-05T22:20:59","date_gmt":"2019-06-06T02:20:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=66427"},"modified":"2021-05-30T20:50:44","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T00:50:44","slug":"maurice-harris-new-england-patriots-minicamp-film-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2019\/06\/05\/maurice-harris-new-england-patriots-minicamp-film-review\/","title":{"rendered":"What Maurice Harris Brings to New England Patriots Offense"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not many people were that excited when the New England Patriots<\/a> signed wide receiver Maurice Harris<\/a><\/strong>. Considering the team couldn’t grab\u00a0Adam Humphries<\/a>, Cole Beasley<\/a><\/strong>, and Golden Tate<\/a><\/strong>, most viewed Harris as a consolation signing for missing out on the cream of the free agency crop. However, the former Washington Redskin<\/a> is reportedly lighting up minicamp<\/a> and could play a decent role in the offense. Is his early success legitimate, or is the hype all for nothing?<\/p>\n

Maurice Harris Film Review: What the Wide Receiver Brings to the Offense<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Film Review<\/h3>\n

The first thing that jumps off the tape with Harris is his impressive contested catch ability. Even with limited playing time, Harris has managed to make a few jaw-dropping grabs against tight coverage. At 6\u20193\u201d and 200 pounds, Harris is a larger wide receiver who has the build to consistently win with this style of play. Fortunately, he also has soft hands and hauls in just about anything thrown his way.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/DLPatsThoughts\/status\/1136430643418664960<\/p>\n

While those plays are impressive, there are a few glaring holes in Harris\u2019 game. For one, he struggles to consistently gain separation. As seen in the clips above, Harris faces tight coverage when he makes those ridiculous catches. When looking at the film, the grand majority of Harris\u2019 production came against zone coverage, off-man coverage, or just by getting schemed open.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/DLPatsThoughts\/status\/1136431787662614528<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t necessarily a shot against Harris, as there\u2019s plenty of value in reading the defense and finding the open holes in a zone. For what it’s worth, Harris has flashed the ability to beat press coverage. He never received much playing time in Washington, so perhaps he can improve that ability in New England.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/DLPatsThoughts\/status\/1136432499507306496<\/p>\n

Harris can find holes in zone coverage and win jump balls, but he\u2019s not much of a threat in the open field. This isn’t that surprising, as 6’3″, 200-pound guys aren’t known for their open field prowess. Chances are, the grand majority of his receiving yards will come through the air instead of after the catch.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/DLPatsThoughts\/status\/1136436370426273792<\/p>\n

Metric Breakdown<\/h3>\n

Trusting your eyes is always a good place to start for player evaluation, but no analysis is complete without looking at the underlying metrics. Player Profiler<\/a> agrees that Harris excels at hauling in catchable targets. According to the advanced stats website, Harris finished 2018 with 90.3% true catch rate, eighth-best in the league. True catch rate is essentially catch percentage for all realistically-catchable targets, so Harris typically delivers when receiving a good pass. Seeing as Tom Brady<\/a><\/strong> is one of the most accurate passers in the league, this bodes well for his future.<\/p>\n

Player Profiler also notes that Harris struggled to get away from defenders. The site says that Harris averaged just 1.45 yards of separation per target (52nd<\/sup>) despite receiving an average of 4.53 yards of cushion pre-snap (12th<\/sup>-most). Additionally, only 85 of Harris\u2019 304 receiving yards came after the catch, which backs up the assessment that he\u2019s not that dangerous in the open field.<\/p>\n

Players like Harris can be successful in the NFL, but their struggles to separate naturally lead towards a small margin for quarterback error. Unfortunately, the quartet of Alex Smith<\/a>, Colt McCoy<\/a>, Mark Sanchez<\/a><\/strong>, and Josh Johnson<\/a><\/strong> wasn\u2019t enough to make Harris a productive player. According to Sharp Football Stats, those four passers combined to post a 52.0 passer rating when targeting Harris. While that rating was distorted by an ugly 0-3 TD-INT ratio, it\u2019s still a bad mark.<\/p>\n

Harris\u2019 style of play requires a smart, accurate quarterback capable of diagnosing a defense and delivering a perfect strike. Fortunately, Tom Brady fits that description to a key, so Harris should be a more efficient weapon in New England.<\/p>\n

Last Word on Maurice Harris<\/h3>\n

Maurice Harris could be the annual under-the-radar signing who goes on to be a major contributor. The former Redskin has reliable hands and boasts the ability to outleap defenders and haul in contested catches. Additionally, he has an eye for finding the soft spot in zone defenses and can reliably pick up quick gains to help move the chains.<\/p>\n

While Harris has positive traits, he\u2019s not what you look for in a starting wide receiver. He\u2019s loosely similar to Chris Hogan<\/a><\/strong> in the sense that he struggles to get open against physical press coverage. Most of his \u201ceasy\u201d receptions came against zone coverage or were simply products of a smart play call. Additionally, he\u2019s not that dangerous in the open field and doesn’t break many tackles.<\/p>\n

Harris probably deserves a spot on the roster, but he shouldn\u2019t be next on the depth chart behind Julian Edelman<\/a><\/strong>. In a perfect world, N\u2019Keal Harry <\/strong><\/a>will develop into a dependable starter and the Patriots can use Harris as the third or fourth option in the passing game.<\/p>\n

Main photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>