Ohio State football: Can Marvin Harrison Jr. match the hype?

After hauling in three touchdown passes from C.J. Stroud in the Rose Bowl for the Ohio State football team, there has been a ton of talk about Marvin Harrison Jr. If you’ve seen pictures, he’s certainly much more chiseled than the skinny 6’3” kid we saw last season. If you’ve seen video of him dunking a basketball recently, you know his athleticism is off the charts. An awful lot of excitement about a guy who caught just eleven passes last year. Can Marvin Harrison, Jr. match the hype?

When Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson decided to sit out that Rose Bowl, Harrison was thrust into a starting role. To that point, he’d had just five catches. You’d think a true freshman who had not played many significant snaps and was replacing two of the best receivers in school history would be a bit nervous. Well, if Harrison was nervous, it certainly didn’t show.

His stats on New Year’s Day read 6 catches for 71 yards and 3 touchdowns. It isn’t the number of TDs that gets my attention. It isn’t making more catches in one game than he had in the entire regular season. What excites me about him is how easy he made it all look, including a very difficult catch on his first touchdown (watch those highlights here).

He showed maturity in his route running with the way he set up defenders to get open and was physical when he had to be. Can Marvin Harrison, Jr. match the hype? You bet he can. I think he is going to be a nightmare matchup for opposing cornerbacks.

You’re starting to hear talk coming out of preseason camp that he is going to be a big help in the red zone. While the Ohio State football team had an elite offense last season, it had its struggles inside their opponent’s 20-yard line at times. Harrison’s 6’3″ frame adds a big-receiver dimension they have not had recently. He can be physical and fight off a defender or he can use that height, long arms, and superior athleticism to go up and get a jump ball-type throw.

He gets his talent honestly. His dad was one of the premier receivers of his generation in the NFL and is enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Marvin Harrison spent his entire career (13 seasons) with the Colts and caught over 1,100 passes; that’s good for fifth on the league’s all-time list.

While Jr. is bigger than Dad, you can see the similarities in their route running. The elder Harrison was a master route runner-Jr. is showing he is well on his way to becoming one well. You can watch a complete breakdown of one of his Rose Bowl touchdowns here.

I don’t think Marvin Harrison, Jr. is going to just match the hype, I think he’s going to surpass it and put up big numbers in 2023.