Marvin Harrison Jr. is a freak athlete. While his 6-4 frame certainly helps when it comes to playing wide receiver, the son of former NFL star Marvin Harrison has the speed, agility and athleticism to make a major impact at the next level.
Those skills make the Ohio State wide receiver one of the must-watch players at the NFL Scouting Combine. The only problem? Harrison Jr. isn’t going to be in Indianapolis.
Harrison Jr. is electing to skip out on testing at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. The Buckeyes junior is not expected to even attend the event at all, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
The Scouting Combine is one of the last chances draft prospects have to raise their stock. With games finished, players can no longer increase their in-game statistics, so the combine gives them one more chance to show teams they deserve to be taken high.
However, not every player is Harrison Jr., and the latest news continues the trend of a “different” approach from the wide receiver.
MORE: When is the 2024 NFL Combine?
Here is more on why Harrison Jr. is skipping out on the NFL Combine.
Why Marvin Harrison Jr. is skipping NFL Combine
Harrison Jr. won’t be participating at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine because … well, there really is no reason for him to participate.
The Ohio State product has already built up an extremely impressive resume ahead of the draft. Harrison Jr. is the reigning Biletnikoff Award recipient, given to the most outstanding receiver in college. He has put up back-to-back 1,200-yard and 14-TD seasons. He is regarded as the top receiver in this draft class for quite some time, and nothing that happens at the combine is going to change that.
Scouts have referred to Harrison Jr. as potentially the best receiving prospect since Julio Jones and A.J. Green, both of who were drafted in 2011. It’s quite likely Harrison is the first non-QB player selected in the draft, and should go within the first five picks.
Bottom line — Harrison Jr. wouldn’t really gain much from performing at the combine. He has earned the right to flex his highlight tape as proof of what he is capable of at the next level.
The combine absence follows a unique trend that Harrison Jr. has taken ahead of the 2024 draft. The Buckeyes star still hasn’t hired an agent, and he did not engage in the pre-combine training that most other players do ahead of Indianapolis.
“All signs show Harrison’s plan is to continue working out in Columbus, Ohio with Buckeye strength and conditioning tycoon Mickey Marotti, among others, to prepare not to run a 40-yard dash, but play football in the fall,” Breer wrote in his column.
The NFL may not be happy to see one of the most hyped-up prospects electing to skip out on the pre-draft activity. It very well could set a trend in the future of elite players passing on the drilling.
However, if there is a player who won’t take any sort of hit in his draft value by skipping out on the combine, it’s Harrison Jr.
