Maurice Harris is most impressive WR through first four days of training camp

Former Washington receiver Maurice Harris is grabbing attention at Patriots training camp.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - With wideout Julian Edelman sidelined because of a broken thumb, all eyes were set on the New England Patriots wide receivers early on in training camp to see who would grab Tom Brady's attention and quickly move themselves up the depth chart. Low and behold, it wasn't a rookie or a Patriots veteran that has earned Brady's trust quickly in Edelman's absence. It's a veteran wideout who is in New England for the first time in his career - Maurice Harris. 

After a couple of stints on Washington's practice squad followed by a visit to the IR at the end of last season, Harris is trying to have a fresh start with the Patriots, and his first impressions have been nothing short of impressive. 

Harris' skills were displayed right away in minicamp this past June and he has continued to shine up until this point in training camp. 

Maurice Harris has been the best pass catcher on the Patriots dating back to minicamp. He gets open, makes tough catches and quarterbacks seem to like him

— Mark Daniels (@ByMarkDaniels) July 28, 2019

Wrote this in my notebook for today that you should definitely read but it’s been pretty remarkable watching Maurice Harris pick up the #Patriots offense this quickly and build chemistry with Brady. Not a lot of guys have done that.

— Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) July 28, 2019

He has quickly become one of the favorite passing targets during 11-on-11s, which has resulted in Harris being by far the most targeted receiver through four days of training camp. 

Here are the receiving stats for 11-on-11s in camp from NESN's Zack Cox:

Receptions	Targets
Phillip Dorsett	4	of	8
Maurice Harris	10	of	14
Braxton Berrios	2	of	4
N'Keal Harry	3	of	4
Jakobi Meyers	1	of	2
Ryan Davis	1	of	1
Gunner Olszewski	3	of	4
Dontrelle Inman	0	of	1
Damoun Patterson	0	of	0
Danny Etling	0	of	0

This, along with Harris' ability to play out wide and in the slot and return punts are making him a surefire lock to make the final 53-man roster. But let's keep in mind - He has yet to show the same kind of production and reliability during a game with the Patriots. 

During his three years with the Redskins, Harris only appeared in 28 of a possible 48 games because of his inability to play well enough to make the active roster consistently. The most game he appeared in during a season was in 2018 when he played in 12 games and recorded 28 receptions on 47 targets for 304 yards. But Washington didn't think highly enough of him, which is why he is now a Patriot. 

Could New England be finding another diamond in the rough with Harris? Possibly. What we do know is that Harris has exceeded expectation thus far, and a live game is when we will know his true value to the Patriots organization.