Marvin Harrison Jr. Was Too Cool For The Combine & Pre-Draft Process, Only To Be The NFL’s Slowest Receiver In Week 1 Debut

Matt Fitzgerald·
CULTURESPORTS
·
Marvin Harrison Jr.
CBS

For those of us who ranked Malik Nabers ahead of Marvin Harrison Jr. as the WR1 of the 2024 NFL Draft class, Week 1 was some sweet vindication.

Now listen, I’m not gonna overreact. There are some appropriate Week 1 overreactions, such as Bill Belichick being Nabers’ head coach by next season. I’m not writing Harrison’s professional football obituary after his uninspiring one-catch, three-yard performance in the Arizona Cardinals’ loss in Buffalo, where they blew a 17-3 lead.

So all that said, my instinct that Harrison was a weirdo by acting too cool for school when it came to not attending the Combine, not working out at Ohio State’s pro day, and spurning most teams’ pre-draft interview requests seems bang-on. Harrison opted to train to play football, as opposed to subscribing to everyone else’s pre-draft process.

So like, I’d assume with all those practical, football-functional drills he was apparently doing since his college career at Ohio State ended, Harrison would for sure be ready to hit the ground running for Week 1. That couldn’t be further what unfolded in reality. Any which way you slice it, it’s hard to envision a worse debut for Harrison against a Bills secondary that isn’t exactly loaded with stars.

For comparison’s sake, here’s a look at some of the other notable players, including some rookies, from around the league and their top-end Week 1 speeds.

This meme pretty well sums up what Harrison put on tape this past Sunday:

Screenshot warriors and non-ball knowers contend that if Kyler Murray had just thrown it to a wide-open Harrison late in the Bills game, everything would’ve been different. Never mind that Kyler, given that exact same play to run 50 times, could maybe have the lucky instinct to find Harrison once.

Given how slow Harrison was throughout the afternoon, were I Kyler, I wouldn’t be looking his way often either.

Now again, let’s not freak out, because Harrison has proven he can explode much better than he showed in his maiden NFL game.

My thing is, Harrison is either burrowed so far inside his own head, or he’s horribly out of shape. It’s got to be one or the other. Either is a massive red flag. What was he doing all that time in workouts to get ready for the season? Did he speed train at all? I’m at a total loss.

Harrison can shut everyone up by bouncing back, regaining his explosiveness, and playing a tick faster throughout the rest of the season. I don’t want to overreact, but isn’t the data super alarming? I can still barely believe it. Thoughts and prayers to anyone who over-drafted MHJ in fantasy. Not looking good early on here.

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