If ever a receiving prospect looks like he was laboratory-built for NFL success, it’s Marvin Harrison Jr. He comes into the league as an unusually polished runner, coming off back-to-back 1,200-yard seasons at Ohio State.
Harrison has ideal size (6-foot-3), excellent hands, quickness and separation ability. He excels in contested situations, but he also excels in creating uncontested situations.
Over the past two seasons, Harrison has fielded the best defenses in college football — including Georgia in 2022 (5-106-2) and Michigan last year (5-118-1) — so there are no concerns about the quality of the competition. be found in the scouting report.
Harrison too averaged better than 3.0 yards per route run in consecutive years, which is outrageous. Basically, he is a player with no obvious weaknesses and many obvious strengths. He was always going to be the top fantasy option in the 2024 rookie class regardless of landing spot.
This is a case where film and statistics nerds also agree on the player’s greatness. Good luck finding someone who seriously doubts MHJ. He is clearly a huge talent.
As the most bullish rater on Harrison within Yahoo’s fantasy team, it behooves me to argue that he can, in fact, deliver first-round fantasy value in his first pro season. I’m certainly not going to declare that Harrison is likely finish as the overall WR1, but I actually think it’s within his range of potential results. Perhaps most importantly, there is very little chance of a healthy MHJ finishing outside of the top 20 receivers in 2024.
In addition to being the consensus pre-draft No. 1 receiver in this year’s rookie class – It is the consensus best receiver in college football last season – Harrison also found his way to one of the best possible destinations for immediate production. He is now paired with two-time Pro Bowl quarterback Kyler Murray in an Arizona offense with a large number of unoccupied targets. Marquise Brown and Rondale Moore both moved on in the offseason, leaving more than 160 opportunities up for grabs.
If you can’t see a path to a monster fantasy season for MHJ as a rookie, then you truly have an unfortunate lack of imagination. It turns out you are also dismissing the recent history of your position. In four of the last five seasons, dating back to AJ Brown’s stellar 2019, at least one rookie wide receiver has finished in the top 10. Harrison is a big bet to reach fifth place in six years.
To the credit of fantasy writers everywhere, MHJ not dropping much in terms of starting ADP. He usually arrives at the end of the second round, in the vicinity of Davante Adams, Chris Olave and Drake London.
Personally, I wouldn’t raise an eyebrow if you wanted to draft him late in the first round in full PPR. Once again, Harrison is the best receiving prospect of the last two years and has found his way into a potentially rich offensive environment. He’s looking at over 150 targets as a rookie, with a realistic chance of meeting or surpassing his recent college production. It won’t be a huge surprise if he has a 90-1,300-10 season, assuming good health.
We are past the era where rookie receivers were automatic fades. If you’re still drafting this way in 2024, you’re closing the door on a group of likely difference makers.
