In his first year as a starting wide receiver at Ohio State, Marvin Harrison Jr. played most of his snaps on the outside. Harrison lined up in the slot for just 105 of his 754 offensive snaps in 2022, according to Pro Football Focus.
At both of Ohio State’s last two spring practices that have been open to the media, however, Harrison has lined up primarily in the slot during team drills.
Kyle McCord to Marv: pic.twitter.com/YZUoZgz5tK
— Griffin Strom (@GriffinStrom3) April 1, 2023
That could prove to be merely a springtime experiment. Emeka Egbuka, who became the starting slot receiver after Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s injury last season, is unavailable this spring after offseason surgery. Xavier Johnson, who also mixed in at slot receiver last year, has likewise been sidelined by injury. Five-star freshman Brandon Inniss, who could start his Ohio State career in the slot, isn’t yet practicing with the Buckeyes because he didn’t enroll early.
With none of them practicing, it makes sense for Ohio State to see what Harrison can do in the slot while opening up more first-team reps outside for receivers like Jayden Ballard, Carnell Tate and Noah Rogers. But there are several reasons why Ohio State could consider giving Harrison more snaps inside this fall than it did last year, too.
For one, playing more snaps in the slot could enable Harrison to become a more complete receiver and erase any doubts about his standing as a top prospect for the 2024 NFL draft. Perhaps it wasn’t a coincidence that Ryan Day made comments to that effect just one day after The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman quoted an anonymous coach who said “I don’t think Harrison will be able to run certain routes” while comparing him to Smith-Njigba.
“With Jaxon, a lot of the NFL personnel would ask, 'How's he gonna do on the outside?' When Chris (Olave) was coming out, 'Do you have any plays with him in the slot?' So it's a good thing to help him and his progression and his development,” Day said when asked about Harrison practicing in the slot after Ohio State’s Student Appreciation Day practice on April 1. “That’s something that we want to do.”
Of course, Ohio State isn’t going to change the way it runs its offense in games just to make a point to NFL scouts. Beyond expanding Harrison’s route tree, the bigger reason for the Buckeyes to consider using Harrison more in the slot is that it could make them even more difficult to match up with and game plan against.
“It's a whole different deal with him inside. And they have to, on defense, decide how they want to double him,” Day said. “So we'll keep working on that, and we just want to keep building on his route tree.”
As Day alluded to, there’s little question that defenses will look to double-team Harrison and limit his impact on games as much as they can in 2023. As loaded as Ohio State is at receiver, Harrison is clearly the Buckeyes’ No. 1 playmaker – just look at the difference it made when he wasn’t in the game for the fourth quarter against Georgia – so every defensive coordinator who faces the Buckeyes this season will scheme their coverages with No. 18 in mind.
Keeping the ball out of Harrison’s hands isn’t going to be easy for any defense no matter what it does schematically, as his ability to get open and make catches even when he shouldn’t be is well-proven. But Ohio State can make that task even tougher on defenses by utilizing him in a multitude of ways.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Day said when asked on the first day of spring if Ohio State was looking for new ways to get the ball in Harrison’s hands this season. “We want him to grow as well. Everybody kind of comes into spring with a different plan of what they want to get done. We don't want to just be the same old stuff for Marv. So we're going to try to build his tools and his package.”
“It's a whole different deal with him inside. And they have to, on defense, decide how they want to double him.”– Ryan Day on Marvin Harrison Jr. playing in the slot
One other reason for Ohio State to consider using Harrison in the slot more frequently could be its inexperience at quarterback and offensive tackle.
While self-described ball-placement specialist C.J. Stroud consistently gave Harrison the opportunity to make big plays with his throwing accuracy, it’s not yet clear whether Kyle McCord or Devin Brown will be as consistently reliable throwing the ball deep and outside the numbers. And if the pass protection isn’t able to give the quarterbacks as much time to throw as Stroud routinely had last season, Ohio State might need to look for more ways to get the ball into its playmakers’ hands quickly, which lining Harrison up closer to the ball could help with.
Given the consistency with which Day has fielded elite offenses at Ohio State, there’s reason for optimism that the Buckeyes won’t need to make major changes to their passing game this year with the departures of Stroud, Paris Johnson Jr. and Dawand Jones. McCord and Brown both have the potential to be elite quarterbacks, and there have been signs of promise from Josh Fryar, Tegra Tshabola and Ohio State’s offensive tackles. But in a spring where it’s been apparent both of those positions remain a work in progress, it’s crucial to find ways to ensure Harrison can still be an impact player even if the downfield passing game takes a step back.
Most likely, Harrison will continue to play the majority of his snaps outside at the X receiver spot once Egbuka, Johnson and Julian Fleming return to the fold. It was from that position that Harrison was the best wide receiver in the country last season, so the Buckeyes shouldn’t be looking to change his role drastically. But the amount of time he’s spent in the slot this spring serves as evidence that Ohio State’s stated desire to utilize Harrison in new ways this fall is more than just lip service.
