Marvin Harrison Jr. has Ohio State legend CJ Stroud’s stamp of approval. Last week, the NFL Rookie of the Year returned to his alma mater to cheer on his former teammates during Ohio State’s Pro Day. During his visit, Stroud raved about Harrison’s NFL potential.
“I think Marvin, I was telling someone earlier, he’s NFL ready,” Stroud said. “Everyone’s talking about this prototype guy, but a lot of prototype guys don’t have a work ethic like he does. So that’ll take him as far as he wants to go. So I’m just excited to see him blossom as just a man.”
Harrison’s hard work has paid dividends. He finished his career at OSU with 155 catches for 2,613 yards and 31 touchdowns. In program history, he’s sixth all-time in catches and receiving yards and third all-time in receiving touchdowns. Moreover, he did it all with just two seasons as a starter.
Harrison now holds the record for most 100-yard receiving games in program history (15), and he became the first Ohio State wide receiver to ever stack back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
Harrison was a unanimous All-American last season and took home Big Ten Wide Receiver of the Year honors twice. He was also named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year this past season, becoming just the third wide receiver to win that award.
Stroud isn’t only impressed by Harrison’s growth on the gridiron.
“He’s always kind of been like a sheltered person, but his personality has definitely picked up,” Stroud said. “He’s a great talent, but he’s even a better person. So I’m super excited for him and his family and he has a lot of great football to be played and I’m really just proud of him, man. All the work I’ve seen him put in is just super inspiring.”
Despite Stroud’s visit, Harrison did not participate in Ohio State’s Pro Day. He also did not participate in the NFL Scouting Combine earlier this month, claiming NFL teams have told him it was not necessary.
In fairness, Marvin Harrison Jr. has no shortage of references. Similar to Stroud, former teammate Garrett Wilson also praised Harrison’s work ethic.
“The best way I can describe Marvin is he’s a grinder,” former teammate Garrett Wilson told the New York Post. “He’s always going to be the best player on the field, but in a rare case that he wasn’t, he would be grinding the whole day after to make sure that was never the case again. That’s my favorite thing about him.”
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