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The New Orleans Saints might have something special in rookie returns specialist Deonte Harris. They knew he was a solid prospect, having signed him quickly after the 2019 NFL Draft; Harris, 5-foot-6 and 170 pounds, set NCAA all-division records at Assumption College while returning both punts (fielding 48 punts for 981 yards and eight touchdown returns) and kickoffs (bringing out 63 kickoffs for 2,051 yards and six scores). But Harris’ work through two preseason games, however limited, has been impressive.

Halfway through the preseason (for 30 teams, anyway), Deonte Harris is the league's top graded return specialist. The analysts at Pro Football Focus have graded his performance with an 86.0, thanks to his 140 yards gained on just five kickoff returns and 55 yards picked up on six punt returns. The Saints are quickly realizing that good things tend to happen when he touches the football, even if he’s dropped more punts (at least two, one of them in practice) than Saints head coach Sean Payton is comfortable with.

The only thing Payton detests more than fumbles are muffed punts. He’s seen a long line of returns specialists come and go in his time in New Orleans, often being quick on the trigger to show them out if they can’t catch the ball cleanly. Just last year, the Saints signed NFL veteran Brandon Tate — who made his career fielding punts — but Payton cut him after an unlucky bounce went away from Tate, which he recovered. The Saints have also had an on-again, off-again status with Ted Ginn Jr., trying to put trust in his hands on the punt units, and too often being disappointed.

“It’s always in flux,” Payton observed after an early-season win over the New York Giants. “Ted was back on the safe hands return, and he struggled with it. Obviously, Tate, he was going a million miles an hour, I don’t know where that ball was bouncing to.”

It’s something that’s always been on Payton’s mind. Back in 2017, he said, “When we’re faced with a situation where a team’s punting in, where normally it’s a fair catch or let it bounce decision, we’ve got to be able to catch that ball 100 percent of the time. We’ll find someone that can.”

If Harris can clean up his punt receptions and continue carving up opposing special teams units after the catch, he could enjoy rare job security in New Orleans. But he has to do it first, and truly shut the door in his competition for the gig with Marcus Sherels — who has earned records of his own with the Minnesota Vikings before signing with the Saints as a free agent earlier this year. At least for now, the rookie’s off to a good start.