Marvin Harrison Jr. scouting report: Exploring the Ohio State WR's strengths and weaknesses

Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State

6’4”, 205 pounds; JR

Marvin Harrison Jr. was stuck behind a ridiculous WR trio of Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba as a freshman. However, in year two, he exploded onto the scene with 79 touches for just under 1,300 yards and 14 touchdowns, making him a unanimous All-American.

Despite missing one week this past season, he basically put up identical numbers and repeated those honors, whilst being named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, winning the Fred Biletnikoff award for the top WR in the country.

Releases & route-running:

+ Has nimble feet off the line, making defenders freeze as he glides by them

+ Yet he’s pro-active with defeating the hands of press-attempts and doesn’t allow himself to get held up – shows an advanced understanding of technique and how aggressive DBs are at challenging his release, more so looking like a pass-rusher swiping by blockers at times

+ For a lankier build, Harrison can lean and plant outside his frame exceptionally well

+ Straightens out his stem after the release to force contact with defenders, who then often have to grab as he sticks his foot in the ground in order to not get lost out of the break

+ Graded out as an elite deep threat in 2023 (99.9 PFF grade), hauling in 15 of 24 targets of 20+ air yards for 598 yards and five TDs

+ So flexible in his ankles to roll through cuts and accelerate out of them

+ Does a great job of pacing himself and just rolling through breaks below 90 degrees in order to maximize windows against zone coverage, particularly on quick in-routes as the flanker or backside digs before the safety can barrel down in quarters

+ Shows a knack for working his way open and making defenders in the secondary desperately try to locate him

Ball-tracking, positioning & catching:

+ Elite body control for a receiver of his height, being able adjust to passes mid-flight as well as dissociate his upper and lower body for spectacular catches at the sideline or at the back of the end-zone

+ Tracks the ball exceptionally well over either shoulder and wins with late hands down the field, naturally letting it drop into pocket and not allowing a defender on his hip to disrupt the catch point

+ Uses late turns to defeat trailing DBs down the field, taking advantage of them having their backs to the quarterback

+ Showcases great flexibility when balls are thrown a step behind him and he doesn’t even need to break stride, particularly on crossers

+ Gets held routinely, but doesn’t complain to the refs rather than fighting through contact and often times still making the catch anyway, at times as defenders are already tackling his legs from behind

+ Understands how to draw flags for pass interference, by making defenders run into him or forcing them to reach around him

+ Hauled in 18 of 30 contested targets in 2022 (60%), while his 43.3% success rate last season is more so a representation of some of the prayers that were thrown up to him by quarterback Kyle McCord

Run after catch & blocking:

+ Features a shockingly rapid turn up the field after making the grab as he’s working back towards the quarterback

+ Recognizes when he can utilizes spin moves every once in a while as DBs are driving on him and he makes them whiff

+ Puts the ball away and keeps his elbow in tight to not swing it around loosely – only fumbled once across 155 career receptions

+ Basically earned back-to-back elite PFF grades (90.2 and 89.9) whilst increasing his yards per route run from 3.18 to an insane 3.44 last year (649 total snaps)

+ Does well to slice up into the space of defenders in soft press alignment and at least getting a hand inside their chest

+ When he does get those paws latched, they don’t typically slide off and he continues to move his legs

Weaknesses:

– Sometimes there’s a little bit of discomfort when balls are thrown at his chest and he doesn’t extend for it – dropped six of 73 catchable passes in 2023

– That also reflects in his passer rating of just 48.2 when targeted in that range of 10-19 yards past the line of scrimmage

– Doesn’t necessarily have that extra gear once the ball is in his hands to just stride away from the defense, and he’s not a super-creative YAC guy, who makes people miss one-on-one with consistency – only forced five missed tackles last season (67 catches)

– Not dying to get involved as a blocker in the run game, more so wanting to find that agreement with his corner to just

As great as this wide receiver class is, Marvin is a true unicorn. You just don’t find true juniors with his type of balanced athletic profile, premiere size and the refined skills plus IQ for the position. He’s significantly before and at than after the catch, to where you don’t want to funnel designed touches his way necessarily, such as screens.

However, he can line up at every single receiver spot and projects as an All-Pro level target, who can consistently win his one-on-one matchups when singled up on the backside of the formation.

Harrison Jr. is capable of defeating press in a variety of ways, whether he has to apply finesse or force, his body-control to efficiently get out of his breaks is rare for a guy his size and then he makes highly challenging catches look routine frequently.

Even though quarterback gets the positional value bump, you can easily make a case for this to be the top name on any team’s big board.

Grade: Top-five