Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. is one of the top overall prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft. He is the top-ranked wide receiver. According to ESPN NFL Draft Analyst Mel Kiper, Marvin Harrison Jr. is ranked #2 on Kiper’s big board. He is projected to be picked fourth by the Arizona Cardinals. In most mock drafts, he is only behind USC quarterback Caleb Williams, North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye, and LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Harrison recorded 67 catches for 1,211 yards, 14 touchdowns, and an average of 18.1 yards per catch in the 2023 season. Marvin Harrison Jr. caught 155 balls, scored 31 receiving touchdowns, and gained 2,613 receiving yards in his three-year career at Ohio State
NFL scouts say Marvin Harrison Jr possesses unique abilities for someone of his size. His speed and ability to catch low throws, as well as sky-high ones, make him a special player. Short cornerbacks, as well as taller ones, are both going to have a problem defending Harrison.
“It’s rare to see a 6-foot-4 wide receiver with the skill set to drop low to snag ground balls or sky high to grab 50-50 passes that are thrown 10 feet in the air,” an AFC South evaluator said about Harrison. “Big corners can’t handle his route running due to stiffness in their movements, and smaller corners can’t handle his size and length. Plus, his ability to catch away from his frame is rare.”
Ohio State: A WR Factory!
Maserati Marv, as he’s sometimes known, comes from a wide receiver factory at Ohio State. They just pump out NFL receivers out there in Columbus. Current NFL stars like Jets receiver Garrett Wilson, and Saints receivers Chris Olave and Michael Thomas played there. Up-and-coming receivers like Jaxon Smith-Njigba also went to THE Ohio State University and was drafted 20th overall in 2023.
The Son Of A Former NFL Great
In addition to being a tremendous wide receiver in his own right, Marvin Harrison Jr. is the son of former NFL great Marvin Harrison. Marvin Harrison played 13 seasons for the Colts from 1996 to 2008, most of those with Peyton Manning at quarterback. Harrison held the record for most receptions in a season (143) until it was broken by Michael Thomas, who recorded 149 receptions in 2019. Thomas was also a former Ohio State player. This furthers the point that Buckeye wide receivers are no joke. There are several reasons why Marvin Harrison Jr. is the best wide receiver prospect in the last decade. He is being compared to players like Detroit Lions legend Calvin Johnson, A.J. Green, and more recently, Ja’Marr Chase.
LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers and Washington’s Rome Odunze are other receivers who are slated to be picked in the top 10. However, no one has Marvin Harrison Jr. as the second receiver picked. He is the first-picked receiver across the board.
Now, with all this being said, how high can Harrison go exactly? He’s ranked #1 on NBC Sports’ Big Board. What’s also interesting to note is that the consensus number one pick, Caleb Williams, is #3, and Drake Maye is #5. Penn State OT Olu Fashanu is #2, and Malik Nabers is #4. LSU player Jayden Daniels is ranked #25, which seems even more outlandish. Now, big boards certainly don’t correlate to where a player will be picked, but putting Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels at #25 seems low. NBC Sports is doing things a bit differently in this draft, not going with the players in the popular positions.
Arizona Cardinals are likely to select WR Marvin Harrison Jr. if he is on the board.
The Cardinals are wanting to see if they can get a repeat of Larry Fitzgearld. pic.twitter.com/Es6ywLgKKP
— NFL Rumors (@nflrums) February 22, 2024
Marvin Harrison Jr.’s Comparison To Other Great Wide Receivers
It’s interesting to note that Harrison Jr. scored more touchdowns and averaged more yards per catch than Calvin Johnson, aka Megatron, and A.J. Green did in college. Johnson scored 28 touchdowns and averaged 16.4 yards per catch while at Georgia Tech. Green scored 23 and averaged 15.8 yards per catch at Georgia Both of those receivers played three seasons. This doesn’t mean everything and it doesn’t necessarily mean that Harrison Jr. is going to be better than Calvin Johnson or AJ Green. That would certainly be tough to do. However, the fact that Harrison Jr. has better stats in any category than some of the greatest NFL wide receivers of the past decade-plus shows you how talented he is and why he’s ranked where he is coming into draft season.
Where Does Marvin Harrison Jr. Get Picked?
I project Marvin Harrison Jr. will be picked #4 overall to the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals can not be successful with Marquise Brown and Rondale Moore being the top two receivers Kyler Murray throws to. With the Bears, Commanders, and Patriots having the first three picks, and them all needing a quarterback, the Bears pick Caleb Williams, the Commanders pick Jayden Daniels, and the Patriots pick Drake Maye.
One could argue that the Bears should stick it out with Justin Fields and draft a guy in another position, a guy like Marvin Harrison Jr. That is possible, but when Fields has thrown 40 touchdowns and 30 interceptions so far in his career, that doesn’t give me much confidence that he is a franchise quarterback. The Bears need to take a quarterback with the first pick. This mock draft led to Marvin Harrison Jr. being picked #4 overall, the earliest wide receiver to be drafted since Amari Cooper was taken fourth overall by the Raiders in 2015.
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Cooper Sherman is an avid NFL fan and enjoys watching and covering it the most. He previously wrote and was a podcaster for the online publications Pro Sports Fanatics and Jersey Column. The NFL is king. He is also an NBA fan and watches it occasionally, more when the NFL season ends. His teams are the Patriots and Celtics, as tough as it is to be a Patriots fan right now. He is optimistic that Jerod Mayo will turn this team in the right direction! Follow him on Instagram and Threads @coopstershermy456, and X/Twitter @justcoopthings.