Ohio State Football: A quick glance at a marvelous career for Marvin Harrison Jr.

The Ohio State football team is losing its best player. To no one’s surprise, Marvin Harrison Jr. announced on Thursday that he has entered the 2024 NFL Draft.

There were rumors that the Ohio State collectives had offered Harrison Jr. a very lucrative offer to stay. Whether those rumors were true or not, I’m sure that at the end of the day, it wasn’t going to be comparable to what he will make as a top-five draft pick. Some Draft experts believe he may even be the first pick taken in the draft depending on who that team picking first is.

If MHJ does indeed go in the top five of the draft, and there is no reason to believe he won’t, he will be the 20th Buckeye to have done so. He will also be the 91st Buckeye selected in the first round, which is the most by any school. USC has had 85 and Alabama has had 79.

If he would go first overall, he would be the fourth Buckeye to do so, joining Tom Cousineau (1979), Dan Wilkinson (1994), and Orlando Pace (1997.)

Harrison Jr. finishes his collegiate career with 155 receptions for 2,613 yards, which is good enough to be sixth-best in Ohio State history for both categories. He scored 31 receiving touchdowns as well, which is third-best all-time at Ohio State behind David Boston (34) and Chris Olave (35.)

He also became the second Buckeye ever to win the Biletnikoff Award for the nation’s top receiver. The first and only other Buckeye to do so was Terry Glenn, who did so in 1995.

Safe to say, MHJ is one of the greatest Buckeyes of all time when you look at what he accomplished statistically and what he may do on the gridiron at the next level. The only thing that the son of the Hall of Famer didn’t accomplish while with the Ohio State football program might be the one thing that haunts him the most: No national championship, no Big Ten Championship, and no wins over That Team Up North.

I’m sure Marv’s legendary status will only grow over the years, but I can’t help but wonder if it’s what he didn’t accomplish that will overshadow his marvelous career.