Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. makes a catch against Michigan defensive backs Quinten Johnson and Mike Sainristil during the second half at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023. credits: Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK During his final year at Ohio State, Marvin Harrison Jr. was plagued with some pretty bad quarterback play.
And still, even when meeting with the New York Giants at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis this spring, he refused to throw Kyle McCord under the bus.
On HBO’s Hard Knocks, Giants wide receiver coach Mike Groh is seen interviewing Harrison about some bad throws made by McCord during their single season together with the Buckeyes.
While breaking down footage of Ohio State’s win over Wisconsin, Groh took an opportunity to take some jabs at McCord’s inaccuracy after a play where he missed Harrison for a wide open touchdown, something that happened several times last season for the Buckeyes.
Groh asked Harrison what he would say to a young quarterback like McCord when returning to the huddle after such a bad throw.
“I don’t say nothing to the quarterbacks,” Harrison said repeatedly.
“I mean, it’s a sh*t throw, right?” Groh replied.
“I mean, I can make a play,” Harrison said. “I can make a play still.”
Groh acknowledges in that clip that Harrison went from playing with one of the best quarterbacks in college football, C.J. Stroud, to McCord, who has since transferred to Syracuse after the Buckeyes lost to Michigan again and did not make the College Football Playoff.
Harrison’s final year at Ohio State was statistically a little bit worse with McCord than Stroud. But if you watched literally any Ohio State football these last two years, that would be hilariously apparent.
In 2022, Harrison had 1,263 receiving yards on 77 receptions with 14 touchdowns. He still caught 14 touchdowns in 2024, but had 10 fewer catches and 52 fewer receiving yards.
McCord’s numbers with the Buckeyes aren’t horrible, but it’s undeniable that his inabilities held the team back offensively at times last year. McCord completed 65.8 percent of his passes for 24 touchdowns and six interceptions. It’s impressive that over half of his touchdown passes last season were to Harrison.
Despite this entirely impressive interaction between college football’s best receiver and a position coach setting him up to throw his collegiate QB under the bus, Harrison stood up for his former teammate. The Giants did not have an opportunity to draft him anyway, as he was selected No. 5 overall by the Arizona Cardinals.
Groh did land a receiver elsewhere in the draft, as the Giants selected Malik Nabers with the No. 6 overall selection, just one spot behind Harrison.
