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By Noah Camras
Contributing Sports Writer
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N'Keal Harry, a former first-round pick by the New England Patriots, is making a mid-career position change.
Harry, who was selected No. 32 overall by the Patriots in the 2019 NFL Draft as a wide receiver, is starting his second season with the Minnesota Vikings — but this one will be a little different than the first. The former wide receiver who played mainly on special teams for Minnesota last season will be moving over to the tight end position in 2024, Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell told reporters on Tuesday.
O'Connell said Harry is "really fired up" about the position change, and added that he's been attacking this process well before the team started up its offseason programs.
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"I think any time you're looking to transition a receiver to the tight end position — and N'Keal is really fired up about it, he has attacked the process long before even we ever got started in the offseason program — but you're hoping to see the receiving traits kind of lead the way early on as they get a little bit more comfort in maybe having their hand down, being a part of run schemes, the different kind of run schemes that we're implementing. And N'Keal has shown that," O'Connell said. "His route ability, his ability to be explosive, contested catches, different variations where we're hoping we're really developing — even at this stage in his career, a position change is always unique — but we're hoping we're developing a guy that can grow into a real third down weapon, red zone weapon with his skill set."
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The goals don't stop there for Minnesota, as O'Connell and the Vikings' staff hope he can turn into a real all-down weapon at the tight end position, especially without their star tight end in T.J. Hockenson.
"The more and more he can do from an all-down standpoint will only help his value as we continue to really put together that tight end group knowing that T.J. is along that recovery process and doing a great job with it, but we are gonna have a lot of reps, and we're gonna have those guys be able to battle it out for those roles, especially early in the season."
Hockenson, a two-time Pro Bowler as a tight end, suffered a torn ACL and MCL in Week 16 of the 2023 season. He told the NFL Network in May that there still wasn't a timeline on his return.
"They haven't really put a timeline on it," Hockenson said. "We're just kind of taking it day by day, week by week. There are just so many variables that you can go through in this process. I'm doing really well right now. We're attacking each process. I'm attacking each one and it's been awesome, the progression has been incredible."
With Hockenson potentially out for the start of the season, the team added a former Chicago Bear and Green Bay Packer tight end in Robert Tonyan. The Vikings also have John Oliver and Johnny Mundt in the tight end room, among others.
However, there's clearly room for Harry to make an impact, and potentially impress enough to earn Week 1 snaps as a tight end.
Harry is 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds. The Arizona State product has appeared in 49 games across five seasons with the Patriots, Bears, and Vikings in his career, and has reeled in 64 catches for 714 yards and five touchdowns.
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