New York Giants Draft Prospect: WR Marvin Harrison Jr.

Marvin Harrison Jr. is widely regarded as the top receiver in this draft class.

Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State / Brooke LaValley / USA TODAY NETWORK

Marvin Harrison Jr., WR

Height: 6’3
Weight: 209 lbs.
Arm length: 31⅞”
Wingspan: 77 ¼”
Hands: 9 ½”
Class: Junior
School: Ohio State
Stats

A former four-star recruit out of St. Joseph’s Prep School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was the 7th-ranked recruit from the state and the 21st WR prospect, he was also the 160th overall player in the 2021 recruiting class.

He is the son of Hall of Fame Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison. Before attending St. Joseph’s, he attended La Salle College High S school as a freshman. Once he arrived at St. Joseph’s, he helped his team to three consecutive state championships while setting Philadelphia Catholic League career records with 2,625 receiving yards and 37 receiving touchdowns. His production in high school quickly translated when he arrived on Ohio State’s campus. Here are his college statistics:

Harrison Jr. was a Unanimous All-American in 2022 and 2023. In the latter season, he won the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the top WR in the nation and was the Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year, an individual honor bestowed by the Big 10. He was also a two-time Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year recipient. He was the first player in Ohio State history to have two 1,000-yard receiving seasons and there are only 10 1,000-yard seasons on record. He was also a Heisman Trophy Finalist but lost to LSU QB Jayden Daniels.

He did not test at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine or at Ohio State’s Pro Day. Harrison Jr. stood on his exceptional tape and put his focus to playing football rather than testing for the esteemed events. He may not be the fastest wide receiver in the draft or the most explosive, but his speed is more than functional. According to advanced data, he clocked in at 21.7 MPH with a Top 3 & 5 average speed of 21.6 MPH and 21.3 MPH, meaning he frequently reaches well into the 21 MPH mark - that’s very fast.

His 3.44 yards per route run in 2023 ranked fifth best in the NFL among WRs thato saw at least 20% of their team’s targets. LSU’s Malik Nabers was slightly ahead with a 3.64 Y/RR. Harrison Jr. is primarily an outside receiver, but he played 19.4% of his 2023 snaps in the slot.

Strengths

* Excellent height for a prototype No.1 WR

* Excellent overall athlete with elite fluidity and very good change-of-direction skills

* Good overall explosiveness with elite leaping ability

* Excellent overall deep speed

* Excellent change of direction an ability to quickly accelerate

* Beautiful second gear to create extra separation

* Light and great feet with elite flexibility to win at the LOS

* Elite overall footwork

* An overall nuanced technician - excellent separator

* Complete release package with excellent hands at the LOS

* Explosive off jab-step release, quick to get into route - immediate wins on tape

* Release gets sold not just through feet but upper body/head movements

* Can threaten any direction and quickly stack upon winning at the LOS

* Can physically win through inside leveraged CBs with release & powerful hands - fluid

* Maintains deception from LOS through stem, until eventual break

* Smoothly eats into CB’s cushion and gets into their feet

* Excellent job maneuvering into and out of CB’s blindspot when accelerating

* Extraordinary understanding of how to maximize the spatial relationship between himself and the unfortunate CB tasked to cover him

* Exceptional double moves with stop/start on vertical routes

* Elite football IQ shows up on tape - father is a Hall of Famer; coached by Brian Hartline at Ohio State

* Creates separation at his break with quickness and physicality

--Not shy to flipper or subtly push off CBs at the break

* Good play strength, works through contact, and isn’t easily rerouted

* Elite overall route runner who quickly gets into his route

* Can run any route exceptionally well - excellent use of tempo to force consternation

* Adaptive route runner when the play breaks down

* Excellent ability to win on the fade and maintain proper alignment with the QB

* Elite concentration and tracking ability - controls body very well

* Soft and reliable hands - excellent overall ball skills

* Effortless catcher of the football - a vacuum around his catch radius

* Last second - sudden - adjustments to the football prevent CBs from properly contesting

* Amazing ability to haul in contested catches in traffic

* Elite ability to secure contested catches - 52.5% contested catch win rate in college

* Uses body well to shield defender from the catch point

* Strong at the catch point - secures and absorbs contact well

* Solid overall ability to make players miss in space

* Will fall through contact and pick up yards that are available

* A versatile player who can align in the slot if asked

* Is an enthusiastic blocker

* Very tough player

---

[View more draft prospect scouting profiles.]

---

Weaknesses

* Arm length is a tad too small - 46th percentile

* Hands are only at the 26th percentile mark

* Not an elite YAC earner

*Hands aren’t an issue, but he did have six drops in 2023

Summary

"Maserati Marv" is one of the more technically sound - complete - wide receiver prospects to enter the NFL Draft in years. His expansive release packages, combined with his ability to physically and agilely win at the line of scrimmage, allow him to create immediate separation in a quick game, and it establishes vertical leverage for stacking opportunities. Harrison Jr. does a great job understanding the spatial relationship between himself and the unfortunate CB tasked to cover him. He knows how/when to work into CB’s blind spots to cause the necessary consternation and doubt to set up a subsequent move to maximize separation.

He creates separation through his elite athletic ability, his elite route running, and his good play strength to battle through contact and subtly push off at the break. He’s a fluid and balanced receiver with nimble feet and elite football IQ. Harrison Jr. is a threat at each level of the field and does an exceptional job finding ways to secure adequate fade/go balls while using his body very well at the catch point to haul in curls/comebacks. He’s the type of receiver that quarterbacks can just say, “Efff it, Marv’s out there somewhere.”

His elite combination of flexibility, light feet, elite vertical ability, and route nuance to maximize the separation he already successfully created is a beautiful mixture for a WR, especially when it’s coupled with elite ball skills, the ability to leap and come down with highlight contested catches, and an expansive route tree.

Harrison Jr. also does a sensational job reacting suddenly to passes, which gives defenders little time to react. His ability to leap and maintain proper body control while adjusting to inaccurate passes will lead to production on any offense. Giants fans would be so lucky to have Marvin Harrison Jr. fall to them at six. It seems unlikely. Still, he’ll be an elite playmaker who can dictate coverages from day one with All-Pro upside.

GRADE: 7.28

Nick Falato's Draft Grade Chart / Nick Falato

---

• Follow and like us on Facebook.
• Submit your questions for our mailbag.
• Follow Patricia Traina on Instagram.
• Check out the Giants Country YouTube Channel.
• Subscribe and like the LockedOn Giants YouTube Channel