Let me explain my case on why I say: Marvin Harrison is NOT in my NFL Draft top 5 WR prospect rankings. (FF is a different situation entirely).
It looks like my new firestorm football ‘take’...one drawing all the normal hate (social media hits and direct contact hate email) from noted football analysts and the social media football masses...is my recent Podfather podcast discussion about the NFL Draft WRs, and how I did not have Marvin Harrison Jr. as a top 5 WR prospect for the 2024 NFL Draft.
On that show, we were in a bit of a time crunch on the podcast and got sidetracked talking about other WRs, so I did not really explain with great detail why I felt that way about MHJ...but the sound byte/headline claim was delivered...and it triggered polite football society to react.
So, with all that being said, I would like to expand on/share my logic in more detail on why Marvin Harrison Jr. is not in my top five WRs for this NFL Draft. And it’s so simple and reasonable that I’m still amazed that people are bothered by it and also amazed that no one on the outside wants to know my ‘why’. I mean I know why they don’t want to know why...but it still amazes me to this day, 15 years into doing this.
...and I realize most people on the outside who would read this are so brainwashed from hearing all their favorite TV and podcast football people parrot the same MHJ narrative, AND they watched a few minutes of curated/delightful highlight tape clips on YouTube of Harrison, so they cannot conceive that anyone would not have him as the clear #1, or worst case #2. But to those of you who are SO sure, I ask – why are you so sure about MHJ? Is it your in-depth personal scouting of the entire WR class, and all the WR classes for years? No, I suspect it’s another case of ‘what everyone else is saying in public’ that’s the main driver of people’s MHJ love. But then I ask the staunch Harrison defenders: Didn’t they sucker you in on Bryce Young this way too? (*And I keep using Bryce as an example because it is most recent and so stunningly bad...but there are a ton more examples to use)
And just to note – in 2023, a year ago at this time, maybe Harrison is my #1 WR for that draft. My 2024 issue is – this might be a historic WR prospect class with so many gifted, unique talented WRs, I think some of them are better than, some differently better than, and others more upside better than Harrison.
OK, let’s get into this MHJ not in the top five rationale...and we’ll take it in pieces:
#1 of 5) Malik Nabers...
Can we all agree that ranking Nabers ahead of Marvin Harrison Jr. is a legitimate ‘take’? That’s not too radical? I mean...only half+ of the league/teams have Nabers rated ahead of MHJ, so...
And if/when Nabers gets drafted ahead of Nabers...then, to me, the whole Harrison ‘generational’ nonsense is exposed as a fraud. If Nabers is the next pick or two after Harrison...then it is more proof of Harrison not on a pedestal way above the rest of the WR group.
I can’t help it that I predicted, from initial scouting, Nabers ahead of Harrison in the summer of 2023 and then confirmed it further in January 2024 scouting studies/reports. I’m not joining the pro-Nabers movement with the cool kids...I was talking about Nabers over Harrison on podcasts and in articles in the summer of 2023.
When I watched some initial Nabers’ tape in 2023 and then again in 2024, it took like 3-4 plays in for me to realize – that guy’s got ‘it’. But when I watched Harrison’s tape, I really never saw a big ‘it’ factor. I see ‘good’, pretty good. I see ‘capable’, but I don’t see a lot of ‘it’. And many NFL people don’t see ‘it’ either with MHJ...especially compared to Nabers.
No one in the mainstream of football analysis has a case to truly be offended by anyone ranking Nabers ahead of MHJ. So, I got one down, four to go on the MHJ non-top-five heresy.
#2 of 5) Rome Odunze...
Odunze is almost everyone’s #3 WR of the class, but some have him #2...and a few brave souls in the recognizable football media have him #1. It’s not too crazy if I say, as a scout, that I like Odunze’s game better than Harrison’s? Who doesn’t like Odunze?
When I watch Odunze, I see the silky smooth worker who...in my scouting...gets open better and makes more sure catches, against top opposition, and his top highlights are not against Western Kentucky types (like we always see on MHJ) or covered and having to make back shoulder/timing catches to make his hay. I like Odunze a little more than Harrison. Is this a major crime? It is not.
OK, that was the easy part...everyone loves/likes Nabers and Odunze. I shouldn’t be attacked by the mainstream for this ranking, on these three WRs, so far...right? I have to laugh at all the people who defend MHJ like he’s their newborn child...actually, for mainstream football fanatics, MHJ is more their Christ/Messiah...and you will not attack him...and they say MHJ is generational or one-of-a-kind, but then turn right around and talk about how Nabers might be as good/better. How can Harrison be ‘one of a kind’ and Nabers be better/equal in people’s eyes?
Everything is knee-jerk with these mainstream football media watercarriers.
‘One of a kind’ Marvin Harrison Jr., now has two other WR prospects in this class that the mainstream likes just as well (Nabers and Odunze)...
And, now we’re halfway home on this pitch...building a simple, non-controversial logic path to having MHJ as the #3 WR of the class. Now we’re going to nudge him out a bit more with more radical scouting, and see if it is at least plausible on my Harrison-not-top-five thesis...
#3 of 5) Ladd McConkey...
OK, let me walk this across in baby steps.
Is there anyone, in the mainstream or in the FFM cult, who does not think Ladd McConkey is good/really good WR prospect? Answer: No. There are rare few who don’t like/respect McConkey.
Why is it that the heavy majority of football people respect/like McConkey as a prospect? Answer: His stunning route running ability. It’s the first thing everyone says when speaking about McConkey...because it’s true, and it’s obvious. If you don’t think McConkey is at least a top contender for the label ‘best route runner in the WR class’...then you should stop reading this and please go enjoy your football analysis wherever it is people who know nothing about WR scouting go to talk about football as if they know things.
To me, and to many in football scouting, McConkey is the best route runner in this class, and it is not even close...one of the best many of us have ever seen in route running. Would you agree with that statement?
One step further...McConkey is a better route runner than Marvin Harrison, would you not agree? If you don’t, I would hazard a guess that a person is just defending their pre-position without consideration because they want to win/not lose their ‘hot take’ fight. No matter how good you think or were told Harrison is at running routes, he does not have the route running ability of Ladd McConkey.
I, as a football evaluator, hold route running in THEE highest regard. It’s the #1 attribute I want in a WR prospect...assuming they can catch the ball fine after getting open. Fastest 40-time or biggest vertical or stupid air yard metrics in college – all that doesn’t mean crap versus route running. It’s a WR’s ability to get open, then catch the ball that I place priority on. McConkey is a better route runner than Harrison...therefore, I want McConkey on my NFL football team over Harrison.
I’d rather have ‘peak’ Cooper Kupp over the Greek god of WR bodies in D.K. Metcalf or A.J. Brown, for example...but I’m not hating DKM or AJB, I am lauding Kupp. It’s why Davante Adams dominated the NFL/FF for years with Aaron Rodgers and then Cooper Kupp took over the mantle as the top guy for FF...Adams and Kupp were better for the NFL and for FF production than the physical freaks like Tyreek and Ja’Marr, etc. I’m not putting the others down like they are ‘bad’...just showing how critical ‘getting open’ is and why I value it higher than ‘cool’ looking speed and leaping catches on a highlight clip.
In addition, McConkey (4.39 40-time) is as fast or faster than Harrison. And I would say McConkey has better hands...at a minimum they’re both good with ‘hands’. Harrison has a size/height advantage, but size/height as a lead attribute is antiquated/‘2000s football’...it’s about the least important attribute in this new passing game era.
McConkey is at minimum, as reasonable a top WR prospect as Harrison. For me, I think McConkey is a much better WR prospect for the NFL than Harrison, but that’s not a sleight on Harrison.
I prefer McConkey...and my scouting logic is not irrational. Someone may not like my belief or disagree with McConkey v. Harrison, but it’s not irrational to hold my opinion. To me, people autopiloting Harrison as ‘generational’ or ‘one of a kind’ when guys like McConkey are more ‘one of a kind’ (route running) is the irrational thought pattern.
I think my critics would grant me a begrudging ‘OK’ type of head nod/allowance for me to like McConkey more than Harrison, because I know they like McConkey too. If so, I just got MHJ moved to #4 in this class...with total, sound logic. I’m not crazy...and I just got MHJ moved to #4, which is a supposed football pearl-clutching heresy...but my logic here is not that radical.
...but now can I get a 4th WR in ahead of MHJ? McConkey was the easy hidden weapon I had...a ‘generational talent’ route runner card I could play that you cannot deny he is that gifted in. But now where do I go...do I have other tricks up my sleeve?
#4 of 5) The Brian Thomas debate...
OK, now we get into more of an apples-to-apples debate. Two bigger/taller (but slender-ish) WRs. If you like MHJ here...that’s fine, but I prefer Thomas.
Similar size, and potentially similar athletes – but Thomas is likely faster (a 4.33 speed at 209 pounds is pretty nice). We don’t know what Harrison’s 40-time would be, but if it’s in the 4.4s...then it’s ’close enough’. If Harrison is more of a 4.5 runner, which I am worried/thinking he’s closer to 4.50 than 4.40 – then Thomas as an edge in speed.
But when I studied the tape of these two ‘big’ WRs...Thomas leapt off the tape. Harrison was not a ‘wow’ against top opponents...he was fine, good, solid, reliable, sometimes very good. Thomas has got a gift for contesting catches and body positioning that is second-to-none, in this class, to me. Harrison is likely a better, more experienced route-runner for back shoulders and such...he’s a good timing and precision worker, but he needs a QB to turn him/connect with him. Thomas is the more explosive, playmaking ‘wow’ WR that doesn’t need the QB to be great in order for him to make plays. There’s a place in the world for both of their skill sets.
The key reason I could lean Thomas over Harrison – I can take the highly athletic Thomas with natural skills that are higher-end in this class, among the 6’2”+ WR prospects...and I can teach him to improve his route running/precision. But I can’t take Harrison and his groomed route running already and make him an explosive athlete to go with it for the future. Again, I am talking about the 6’2”+ WRs here.
If you want MHJ’s stable skills over Thomas’s explosiveness, then godspeed to you...but don’t tell me Thomas is a crazy consideration/debate to desire over MHJ. I mean, they may both go in the top 15 of the draft...how much of a gap between them is there really for NFL evaluators? Why am I crazy to see Thomas as the better prospect in a year or two...or even right away? The mainstream may not like it – but it’s not a ludicrous, insane thought.
If you like Thomas too...and if you’ll allow me to like him more than MHJ...then I just moved Harrison to #5 and falling, for me. Look how far we’ve come together! We moved from Harrison as a ‘generational’, ‘one of a kind’ prospect to arguably the 3rd-4th best WR in the draft, at this point.
Let’s try to take it a step further...
#5 of 5) Who is left to kick out MHJ from my top five?
Is it Keon Coleman...who could be the way better upside version of the size, style of play of Harrison?
Is it Combine star Ricky Pearsall who has some Justin Jefferson stylings?
Is it the WR who would be lauded for his slot route running prowess at the top of the class if it weren’t for the god of route running, Ladd McConkey...and that’s Roman Wilson, who you could see how good he was at the Senior Bowl ripping up top CBs all practices? How do you even compare Harrison’s style to Roman Wilson’s totally different style? Again, I want the WRs who get open off the snap every time.
Is it a personal fave Malachi Corley, who is a physical beast who plays a totally different, more intriguing (to me) style than Harrison?
Not to mention the people who like or love Adonai Mitchell, Xavier Worthy, or Xavier Legette...or a Ja’Lynn Polk?
At a very bare minimum, Harrison is not head-and-shoulders above them all in this class. I don’t care how much you love Harrison, or anyone else in this class for that matter because there are several Pro Bowl WR talents in this draft. I don’t see any scouting reason why Harrison would be placed on a pedestal above them without question.
Football tend to ‘pick’ a guy from any draft as ‘their guy’...’their guy’ for the draft and/or in the position group – and then they go into Republican-Democrat, Michigan-Ohio State nonsensical tribalism and worship their one option, and think they have to defend it to the ends by putting down any threats to the theory. The same thing happened last year with the Bryce Young worshippers. It happens every year because most football analysts are 10-year-old kids who are experiencing puppy love for the first time – and they love nothing more than the daydreams of rookies.
If we were talking about the WR-weak 2023 NFL Draft, I might agree that MHJ is the top WR prospect. A lot of my rationale for Harrison not in my top 5 is not a full-on hatred for Harrison...it’s that this WR class might go down in history as the single greatest ever, potentially. I like and love several WRs from this draft. I don’t have to be tied to one or two of them for some kinda purity test. Last year, I didn’t really care much about any of the WRs from the class (including fighting everyone on their undying love for Jaxon Smith-Njigba, when I wasn’t overwhelmed by him...and now a year later, does he even exist anymore?). Last year was weak, this year, there are so many it’s historic/unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Can’t we like and love several options at the top?
Mainstreamers, MHJ defenders...I’m not trying to get you to agree with my position. I really don’t want my beliefs to be universally adopted because it negatively affects the way I’ll play and how I’ll plan for Dynasty Rookie Drafts, Fantasy drafts, prop betting, team betting, etc., if everyone suddenly agrees with me. All I’m asking is: Dislike the take, if you want, but don’t think I’m coming from an ill-informed, unstudied place just trying to get a rise out of people with ‘hot takes’. There is no benefit for me to give this ‘hot take’...all it brings is criticism and people writing me off based on a headline.
But to those brave few who have come to check out why the supposed football-insane person holds these beliefs and/or asked me directly for more explanation...to those of you that are skeptical of the mainstream groupthink and are seeking alternative viewpoints – welcome to FFM. You’re never gonna see football or bet football or play Fantasy the same again. That, I can assure you.
