FOXBOROUGH
Joejuan Williams NFL Jersey , Mass. (AP) — The Patriots spent their lone pick of the first round of the NFL draft getting Tom Brady a fresh pair of hands
to throw to.New England used the 32nd pick of Thursday’s opening round to select
receiver N’Keal Harry out of Arizona State.He is the first receiver selected by
the Patriots in the first round since they chose Terry Glenn seventh overall in
1996. Harry is the first receiver taken in the first round under coach Bill
Belichick.“It means the world to me,” Harry said. “For him to have that much
faith in me and to have that much trust in me it just makes me want to work that
much harder.”Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio described Harry
as big, strong receiver with good hands that is good with the ball after the
catch.At 6-foot-4, 213 pounds, Harry has questionable speed after running the
40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds. But he was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection as a
junior, catching 73 passes for 1,088 yards and nine touchdowns.“There are some
other good players that are out there as well,” Caserio said. “We just thought
this was the best player that made sense for us at the time.”Harry’s selection
brings instant energy to a receiving group that entered free agency in need of a
youth injection.Receiver Julian Edelman is Brady’s most experienced returning
pass catcher. But he will be 33 when the regular season starts.Chris Hogan
signed with the Panthers in free agency
Joejuan Williams NFL Draft , leaving Brady with Phillip Dorsett as his No. 2 receiver behind Edelman. The signing of Demaryius Thomas gave the Patriots
another proven veteran. But Harry’s addition is a sign they want to remake the
group further.Originally from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Harry watched the
draft unfold in Scottsdale, Arizona, with about 50 members of his family.He said
he doesn’t have a preference of whether he plays on the outside or in the
slot.Harry described his game as “very passionate.”“When that ball’s in the air
I’ll sacrifice anything to go get it,” he said. “I’ll do whatever it takes to
help the team win.”The Patriots entered the draft with 12 picks, including seven
in the first four rounds. The No. 32 pick was their lone selection in Thursday’s
first round.New England still has several needs, including finding a long-term
replacement for tight end Rob Gronkowski following his recent retirement, as
well as filling holes on the offensive and defensive lines created by free
agency departures.Two of the most highly rated tight end prospects were taken
early in the first round after the Iowa tandem of T.J. Hockenson and Noah Fant
were chosen by the Lions and Broncos
Joejuan Williams Buffalo Bills Jersey , respectively.There was also a run on defensive linemen, with 13 players chosen in the first 32 picks.Day 2 of the
draft is set up to be busy with the Patriots holding five picks in Rounds 2 and
3.The offense needs a new starting left tackle to replace Trent Brown, who
signed a lucrative contract with the Raiders at the start of free agency.There’s
also the possibility that the Patriots may select a quarterback, with Brady set
to turn 42 years old in August. Brian Hoyer is solely Brady’s backup and not
their quarterback of the future. They did select Danny Etling in the seventh
round of the 2018 draft, but he spent last season on the practice squad and
still needs a lot of development.One player still on the board after Thursday
night is former Missouri quarterback Drew Lock, who is big at 6-foot-4 and 230
pounds. A four-year starter with the Tigers has the big arm to match, throwing
for 28 touchdowns and completing 63 percent of his passes as a senior.Caserio
said he is expecting some opportunities to move around on Day 2 with five
picks.“We’re off to a decent start and we’ll see how it goes,” he said. “We do
have a little flexibility relative to the picks
Color Rush Joejuan Williams Jersey , so we’ll evaluate the board, we’ll evaluate the situations and opportunities that are there and we’ll try to make
good decisions over the next couple of days.” That Stephen Gostkowski stayed
with the Patriots wasn’t necessarily a surprise.The fact the free agent kicker
was on the market for a month was a bit of one.But after signing on for another
two years in April, the veteran kicker said it was important to him to stay with
the team that drafted him, and to continue doing the hard work.“It’s a very
fragile position,” Gostkowski said, via Nick Goss of NBCSportsBoston.com. “It
doesn’t take much to be at the top or the bottom in a position such as mine. To
be able to have a chance to do it on one of the most high-pressure teams in the
history of sports and have a chance to continue to do it — I think it would be
tough to go somewhere else.“The grass might seem greener on the other side, but
it’s not always that way. I kind of like the challenge of being here, the bad
weather
Youth Joejuan Williams Jersey , the pressure of the big games.”As long as he’s with the Patriots, the likelihood of being in big games is considerable. And
while negotiations are normal, the object lessons of lesser teams not making a
wise and firm decision at the position is clear, and the Patriots were smart to
hang onto someone who has been reliable.
