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Arizona Cardinals select Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr. with the fourth overall pick. Grade: A

Doug Farrar
·2 min read

The Cardinals need receivers more than any other NFL teams needs just about anything, and it’s smart of them to go with Marvin Harrison Jr. here. Harrison might not be the most explosive receiver in this class, but he’s got everything else, and when you’re building a receiver room from scratch, that’s what you want. He reminds me of Larry Fitzgerald, another highly-drafted receiver who worked out pretty well for this franchise. 

Marvin Harrison Jr., the son of the former Indianapolis Colts receiver who totaled 1,102 catches on 1,781 targets for 14,580 yards and 128 touchdowns over 13 seasons from 1996 through 2008, was a four-star recruit out of St. Joseph’s High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He chose Ohio State over Syracuse (his father’s alma mater), Florida, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Penn State.

Harrison, thought by most to be the No. 1 receiver prospect in this class, caught 67 passes on 114 targets for the Buckeyes last season for 1,211 yards and 14 touchdowns. On throws of 20 or more air yards, he caught 15 passes on 24 targets for 598 yards and five touchdowns. Harrison is capable of burning defenders on any route, but he ran primarily go, dig, hitch, post, drag, and seam routes.

PLUSES

— Contested-catch artist who can wriggle out of press coverage by slow-playing cornerbacks and adjusting his moves off the line of scrimmage.

— Has an impeccable understanding of voids in zone/man/match; he’ll become his NFL quarterback’s best friend.

— His release into route stems is absolutely filthy. Basically, covering him all day just sucks.

— Catch radius is also ridiculous. He’ll do as much as any receiver to mitigate inaccurate throws.

MINUSES

— Doesn’t have Tyreek Hill-level burner speed, but it won’t matter because he has so many ways to get open downfield.

— Focus drops can be a problem, even after he’s tied a poor cornerback into knots.

— Could work on blocking.

Harrison is absolutely plug-and-play in the NFL from Day 1. If he had a fifth gear at the third level of a defense, he might be the best player in this class, regardless of position. He has just about everything else.

Story originally appeared on Touchdown Wire