Marvin Harrison Jr. is but a few hours away from joining the family business in the 2024 NFL Draft. It comes as no surprise to many, though, including Joel Klatt, because of how he has projected for some time now.
Klatt shared his position on Harrison Jr. again on Wednesday in Detroit ahead of the draft tonight. He started by noting what he thinks makes him great, which is great ability combined with a top-notch work ethic.
“Yeah, his catch competitiveness, you know, his catch radius,” said Klatt.
“Then I saw him as a worker,” Klatt said. “Every time I was in that building, he would be on the jugs gun catching the football.”
Klatt also added that he took the words of those in Columbus. Over his time there, they all made it clear about how special Harrison Jr. could be. For all the top receiver talent that has come through the program at Ohio State as of late, he said that those in the building always said that Harrison Jr. would end up being the best of them.
“I would talk to his teammates and his coaches. I would say, like, ‘Alright, tell me about this guy as a worker. Tell me how he is with schematics,'” Klatt said. ‘Every one of them, whether it was Garrett Wilson when he was there or Chris Olave when he was there. They all said to me, every one of them, ‘The best player in our room is Marvin Harrison Jr.’ – even when they were there, when Garrett Wilson was there.”
“So, why did I think that? Because of that. I trusted Brian Hartline, Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba,” said Klatt. “When they told me Marvin was better than them, I believed them.”
Harrison Jr. has the chance to become the highest-drafted receiver in Buckeye history. He will also surpass the draft spot of his father. WR Marvin Harrison, the Hall Of Fame receiver for the Colts, was the 19th pick in the 1996 NFL Draft.
This comes after a college career where he caught 155 passes for 2,613 yards and 31 touchdowns. That included a breakout performance to end his freshman year in The Rose Bowl before fantastic seasons as a sophomore and junior.
In that time, he was a two-time Consensus All-American and a winner of the Biletnikoff Award. He was also a finalist for the Heisman Trophy this past season.
Harrison Jr. has a lot to live up to in his father as well as the recent run at the position coming out of Ohio State. Klatt, like others, thinks he’ll be well on his way to doing it, though, with what he’ll be bringing with him into the league later tonight.
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