Bill Belichick's biggest draft disaster was somehow left off new bust list

For all the homegrown stars he developed during his legendary run in New England, former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick infamously struggled to find capable receivers through the draft.

However, while fans can mostly dismiss the disappointing results from second-round selections like Chad Jackson (2006), Aaron Dobson (2013), and more recently, Tyquan Thornton (2022) and Ja'Lynn Polk (2024), no one can (or should) forget about the abomination known as N'Keal Harry.

Yet, apparently, Bleacher Report did.

In a piece published on June 22, their staff ranked the 99 biggest draft busts of all time across the four top leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL). To no surprise, quarterback JaMarcus Russell took home top "honors" after he famously failed to live up to expectations with the then-Oakland Raiders.

Other notable names on the list include fellow quarterback Ryan Leaf, forgettable power forward Anthony Bennett (the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft), and ex-Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Tony "The Incredible Bulk" Mandarich.

Noticeably absent?

N'Keal Harry.

In fact, not a single Patriot made the unenviable list of draft-day disasters.

Even though there are plenty of players across all four major sports who failed to deliver once they became pros, there's no world in which Harry shouldn't be on this list. After all, out of the many mistakes Belichick made as a general manager, none deserve more scrutiny than his decision to take the former Arizona State wideout with the final pick of the first round of the 2019 draft.

N'Keal Harry is the poster child of failed Patriots draft picks

Desperate for a true No. 1 receiver who could take some of the load off the ultra-productive but undersized Julian Edelman, the Patriots entered the 2019 draft with a chance to make up for some of their past sins at the position.

Yet instead of spending their top selection on a clean prospect like Deebo Samuel or A.J. Brown (yes, the same guy the team just traded a future first-round pick for), Belichick went rogue, ignoring his scouts' preference for the highly productive Brown for another big-bodied pass catcher in Harry.

Needless to say, that bold move backfired almost instantly.

While Samuel, Brown, and DK Metcalf quickly became key contributors after entering the league as second-round picks, Harry struggled with injuries and inconsistency. Expected to be the savior at the position, he instead became the poster child for everything that was wrong about Belichick's waning years as GM.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound receiver only appeared in seven games as a rookie, and things didn't get much better over the next two years.

Between nagging ailments, poor route-running, and inconsistent hands, Harry managed a paltry 57 catches for 598 yards and four touchdowns in 33 games. During that same three-year stretch, here's what that aforementioned trio did:

• Brown: Caught 185 passes for 2,995 yards and 24 TD for the Tennessee Titans
• Samuel: Earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2021 after racking up 1,770 total yards from scrimmage and 14 TD
• Metcalf: Hauled in 216 catches for 3,170 yards and 29 TD while establishing a reputation as one of the league's top deep threats

Ultimately, Harry's struggles forced the Patriots to throw in the towel by the summer of 2022, when the team shipped him to the Chicago Bears for a seventh-round pick.

Belichick's big mistake should be put in the spotlight

To say the Patriots got pennies on the dollar for their investment might be an understatement. Not only did Belichick pass over several future stars for a player who barely made a blip on the radar, but the team had to resort to free agency and trades to try to atone for that franchise-altering mistake.

Let's not forget that one of the reasons Tom Brady grew frustrated in his final years was the lack of weaponry around him. If Belichick had gone in a different direction—aka literally any other receiver other than Harry—perhaps TB12 would have had a different attitude.

Yet it's impossible to ignore just how badly Belichick bungled that pick.

Considering Harry was the last player selected on Day 1, it's fair to say the rest of the league didn't view him as a surefire first-rounder. To make matters worse, he failed to make an impact in Chicago (just seven receptions in seven games) or Minnesota (he didn't catch a single pass in his only season with the Vikings), furthering the narrative that he was vastly overrated by Belichick.

Ultimately, hindsight is 20-20, but when you take a step back and look at how disastrous the N'Keal Harry saga was, it deserves as much scrutiny today as it did at the time.

And even though Belichick made some terrific picks during his two-decade tenure in Foxboro, his most egregious error easily warrants a spot on B/R's list of the biggest draft busts of all time.

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