When the New England Patriots selected Damien Harris in the third round of the 2019 draft, they added him to one of the deepest offensive backfields in the league. The rookie did see plenty of practice reps during his first set of offseason workouts when he filled in for lead back Sony Michel, who was recovering from a knee injury, but his momentum did not carry over into the regular season: Harris’ first year in the NFL was essentially a redshirt campaign.
The 87th pick of last year’s draft is therefore entering his second season in the system with almost no on-field experience to speak of outside of preseason.