Damien Harris Is PFF's Highest-Graded Patriot of 2020
The New England Patriots season is over sooner than most fans are used to. Now is the time to look forward to the NFL Draft and offseason, but also to look back on the season that was.
New England ended the season with a 7-9 record. It was one of their worst seasons in two decades. They were at the bottom of the AFC East which is disappointing, to say the least.
One of the few highlights of 2020 was the play of second-year running back Damien Harris. He established himself and showed that Bill Belichick might have known what he was doing by basically red-shirting him during Harris' rookie season.
In Harris' true debut season, he ran for 691 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 5.0 yards per carry. Seeing that Harris only played in 10 games, those are rather exceptional stats.
What stands out when Harris runs the ball is that he finds his hole and blasts through it. He runs motivated and isn't afraid to run over a few players on his way to the end zone. It's evident when you see that he averaged five yards per attempt. Compared to Sony Michel, that is a major upgrade.
Beyond those numbers, Harris received recognition from Pro Football Focus, as he was the highest-graded Patriot by their standards and the second-highest graded running back in the NFL by earning a 90.3 overall grade.
With all the struggles that New England had this season, it was hard to see just how well players like Harris had performed. While the former Alabama back still has a lot of work to do, he clearly seems capable of being the Patriots' top back on the depth chart.
The running game will be rather important for the Patriots. With New England likely moving on from Newton according to reports, Belichick will likely continue to rely on the run game. This will hopefully help Harris' progression as a player and maybe even lead to him having his first 1,000-yard season in 2021.
So while the Patriots will see a lot of roster turnover after a poor 2020 season, Harris is someone that the franchise can build around. He is apart of the new regime that will usher the six-time Super Bowl champions into the future.
The question is just how much can Harris continue to progress and how far can he take the Patriots? If he was the second-best back in his first real season, how long will it take him to be the best? Only time will tell.
