2024 NFL Draft's top playmaker opts out of Scouting Combine

The 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, which begins Feb. 26, will give many players in this year's draft class the opportunity to showcase their talents and raise their draft stocks. However, arguably the best playmaker in the 2024 NFL Draft is deciding to do things differently.

Per NFL Network's Albert Breer, Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. isn't testing at the combine. In fact, he's not even in Indianapolis and is instead staying at Ohio State University to "build towards his rookie season."

Harrison Jr. is one of only a few players that could do so after posting 144 catches for 2,474 yards and 28 touchdowns the past two years. 

As a result, he has already positioned himself to be a top five draft pick at the end of April. The 21-year-old currently ranks as Pro Football Focus' best wide receiver and No. 2 overall prospect only behind USC QB Caleb Williams on its big board.

Harrison Jr., the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Marvin Harrison, has been projected to go as high as pick No. 3 to the New England Patriots.

He seems poised to make his father proud as he is "regarded as the best NFL receiver prospect since Julio Jones and A.J. Green in 2011, and maybe the best since Calvin Johnson went second overall in '07," according to Breer.

The Ohio State product isn't expected to only opt out of drills at the NFL Scouting Combine either. Harrison Jr. is also expected to not have a Pro Day, telling teams to simply put on the tape.

How fast he runs a 40-yard dash, three-cone drill or routes on air isn't going to change how high he'll be drafted. So, it is a smart decision by Harrison Jr. to avoid the one thing that could affect his draft stock — an injury.

There haven't been a ton of injuries suffered at the NFL Scouting Combine, but they have occurred. The most recent was Ravens guard Andrew Vorhees, who tore his ACL at the event last year.

Vorhees was projected to be a day two pick, but following his injury, he fell to pick No. 229 in the seventh round.

Harrison Jr. has already done things a bit differently, as he has proceeded without an agent representing him. It seems he'll continue with a similar mindset as he waits to be one of the first players to hear his name called on April 25 in Detroit.