Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The second edition of the 2024 NFL mock draft from Draft Wire’s Jeff Risdon
It’s time to update the two-round mock draft ahead of one of the last big weekends of college football.
My first edition of the 2024 mock draft came out after Week 4. There has been quite a bit of football, both college and NFL, to impact the projections.
The draft order here is based on the current NFL standings entering Week 10. We’re still in the “presenting ideas and possibilities” phase of draft projections, too.
Things that are inevitable: Death, Taxes, and Marvin Harrison Jr in the Red Zone.
It is no secret that Marvin Harrison Jr. is an absolute weapon for the Ohio State Buckeyes. If you look at their last eight touchdowns, five of those came on passes to No. 18.
While arguments are being made for the son of Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison to be considered for the Heisman Trophy, we can understand why he wouldn’t be. It has become a quarterback award over the years with the exception of Mark Ingram in 2009, Derrick Henry in 2015, and Devonta Smith taking it home in 2020. All three just so happened to play for Nick Saban at Alabama.
This season, Harrison is on pace to match what he did in 2022. That year he was named a first-team All-American with 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns. They are really good numbers but not enough to give him the nod over Michael Penix Jr., Bo Nix, Caleb Williams, or Jayden Daniels by the voters would be my guess. This is an argument for Harrison, however, I did want to take a deeper look at just how good he has been for Ryan Day.
Marvin Harrison Jr. is inevitable@ohiostateFB finds its superstar for six pic.twitter.com/oUwz4VMT6k
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) November 4, 2023
When it comes to the red zone, all you have to do is find No. 18. Of his 19 receptions in the red zone, 16 have resulted in touchdowns. That is a blistering 84% conversion rate. This season alone, he has converted eight red zone receptions into 7 touchdowns, a smoldering 87.5% rate.
We compared Marvin Harrison Jr’s numbers in the red zone to those of Malik Nabers (LSU), Rome Odunze (Washington), Troy Franklin (Oregon), and Xavier Worthy (Texas). Each receiver has played at minimum 30 games dating back to the beginning of the 2021 season. What we found is that “Maserati Marv” is in a class all by himself. The only one close to his touchdown rate in the red zone is Worthy.
| Player | Games | Rec | Yards | YPR | TD | TD % |
| Harrison | 34 | 19 | 209 | 11.0 | 16 | 84.2 |
| Nabers | 34 | 14 | 112 | 8.0 | 6 | 42.9 |
| Odunze | 30 | 21 | 197 | 9.4 | 11 | 52.4 |
| Franklin | 36 | 20 | 137 | 6.9 | 11 | 55.0 |
| Worthy | 34 | 20 | 140 | 7.0 | 12 | 60.0 |
If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. Just throw it up to Marvin Harrison Jr. and prosper.
Rutgers football stopped Ohio State’s outstanding wide receiver duo.
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Into the early stages of the fourth quarter, Rutgers football was hanging tight with No. 1 Ohio State. And it was the play of the secondary that was a major reason why Rutgers was down just 21-16 in the fourth quarter.
Rutgers did a tremendous job in limiting the space and amount of touches that Mark Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka got in Saturday’s game. Both wide receivers, likely first round picks, have been impressive this season but each standout struggled against a strong performance from the Rutgers secondary.
Harrison was held to just 25 receiving yards, his second-lowest tally of the season (although he did have two important touchdown catches in the second half). As for Egbuka, his 29 receiving yards were also the second-lowest of the season.
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It was part of a strong defensive display from Rutgers that limited Ohio State to just 328 yards of total offense in what was a 35-16 win for the Buckeyes.
“We are getting better on defense, we are getting better on offense, we are getting better in the kicking game,” Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano said after the game.
“Those two receivers are both first round draft picks, okay, and I think they were held to something like 50-some-yard together, both of them. Those are two first round draft picks. But again, for us to win that game, we needed to be darn near perfect. I wasn’t; the players weren’t; the coaches weren’t. We’ll keep battling away but there’s nobody that’s saying, oh, that was a good, close, no, no. There’s two things. There’s winning and there’s losing. Those are the only two things that happen in a game.”
Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord threw for 189 yards, his lowest passing total of the season.
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Down 9-7 at halftime, Ohio State capitalized on Rutgers mistakes and miscues to start rolling in the second half. A pick-six in the third quarter and some strong running from TreVeyon Henderson (128 rushing yards and a touchdown on 22 carries) keyed Ohio State to the win.
“Give a lot of credit to Greg [Schiano] and their staff. He’s doing a great job with their players,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said after the game.
“Playing on the road, you have to find a way to win the game and we did. It was good to pull away.”
Social media reacts to Marvin Harrison Jr. Touchdown vs. Rutgers #GoBucks
The [autotag]Ohio State football team[/autotag] is slowly separating itself from the Rutgers Scarlet Knights thanks to a [autotag]Marvin Harrison Jr.[/autotag] touchdown that extended the score to 28-16. We have been clamoring for the Buckeyes to incorporate Harrison more into the game plan, and they have finally listened as he gets a score in the fourth quarter.
Harrison hasn’t lit up the box score like we are accustomed. He has only three receptions for 23 yards and a touchdown, but he is so talented his presence is felt despite not getting the ball as it is very clear Rutgers has slanted all of their coverages toward the impressive Heisman Trophy candidate. How did social media react to the most recent touchdown?
On Saturday afternoon, Ohio State will put their undefeated record on the line when they travel to Piscataway to take on Rutgers.
On Saturday afternoon, Ohio State will put their undefeated record on the line when they travel to Piscataway to take on Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights have already reached the six-win mark, but they have a tough test in front of them in Ohio State.
The Buckeyes are the top team in the country and have scored at least 20 points in four straight games. While Rutgers hasn’t had the same amount of success, they have won their last two conference games. They are also eager to prove themselves against the best college football has to offer.
Game 9
🗓 Saturday, November 4th
🕰 12:00 PM ET
📺 @CBS
🆚 #1 Ohio State
🇺🇸 Military Appreciation DayStudent 🎟️ ⬇️https://t.co/g5pxqh59by pic.twitter.com/XPbmPgxw0o
— Rutgers Football (@RFootball) November 1, 2023
In order to pull off an upset, Rutgers will need an offensive explosion from Gavin Wimsatt and Kyl Monangai. The defense will be tasked with containing one of the best players in the country in wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. Regardless of the outcome, there should be plenty of fireworks in this game between two talented Big Ten teams.
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The Harrison pipeline to Ohio State needs to happen #GoBucks
We all know how great [autotag]Marvin Harrison Jr.[/autotag] is, but he might not be the only one in his family that will suit up for [autotag]Ohio State football[/autotag].
During the [autotag]Heisman trophy[/autotag] candidate’s media session on Wednesday, the Buckeye receiver was asked about his younger brother, Jett Harrison. He claims that the 8th grader is more talented that he was at that age, just 14-years old.
Jett wants to potentially follow in his brothers footsteps, which is very typical of younger brothers. It’s hard to say where he will end up, but according to his big brother, he has already started the recruiting process for the Buckeyes.
Marv talking about his little brother, 14-year-old Jett Harrison:
"He's great. He's definitely more talented than I ever was at that age… he sees me here [at Ohio State] and naturally he wants to follow in my footsteps." pic.twitter.com/5pkfYAEcUX
— Lantern Sports (@LanternSports) November 2, 2023
Crazy to think that Marvin believes his brother will be better, considering how great he is himself. Here’s hoping to another Harrison lining up for Ohio State in the future.
Contact/Follow @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Michael Chen on X.
Marvin Harrison Jr. has the full attention of Rutgers football.
Ohio State is rolling this season and one of the Big Ten’s top offenses is so dangerous in large part due to the play of Marvin Harrison Jr. Stopping Harrison will be a big focal point for Rutgers football this Saturday.
Arguably the best wide receiver in the country, Harrison has been close to unstoppable for Ohio State this season. He leads the Big Ten in receiving yards and is second in the conference in receiving touchdowns.
Last week in a win at Wisconsin, it was another clutch performance for Harrison as he had six catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns as Ohio State continued its strong start to the season. The Buckeyes are 8-0 (5-0 Big Ten).
On Monday, Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano was asked about the play of Harrison and how the nation’s top wide receiver has taken the next step in his development.
“Marvin Harrison, Jr. is arguably one of the best players in the country. He’s continued to improve. You can see he’s a real professional the way he’s prepared, and again when you’re going against players of that skill, they are very dangerous,” Schiano told reporters on Monday.
Curiously, Harrison isn’t getting Heisman buzz…but he should. Even though the award has likely become one for quarterbacks and to a lesser extent wide receivers, it is still hard to argue that Harrison isn’t one of the top wide receivers in the nation.
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Although history is certainly against the Ohio State standout with regards to his Heisman candidacy.
Since 1991, the only wide receivers to win the award are Desmond Howard (Michigan, 1991) and DeVonta Smith (Alabama, 2020).
On the season, Harrison has 889 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.
Harrison is certainly finding his stride right now as Ohio State makes a push for the College Football Playoff. He has topped 100 receiving yards in each of his last four games.
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Rutgers is 6-2 (3-2 Big Ten) and looking for its first victory in program history against Ohio State. Saturday’s game will kickoff at 12:00 PM ET and will be broadcast on CBS.
McCord to Harrison Jr. got us fired up as well! #GoBucks
It took until the second quarter for ether team to score, but [autotag]Ohio State football[/autotag] got the first touchdown of the game against Wisconsin to take a 10-0 lead.
The Buckeye capitalized on a short field, due to a bad Badger punt, only needing to go 52 yards to find the end zone. It was a fantastic play call by head coach [autotag]Ryan Day[/autotag] and offensive coordinator [autotag]Brian Hartline[/autotag], as they schemed star wide receiver [autotag]Marvin Harrison Jr.[/autotag] underneath the defense, quarterback [autotag]Kyle McCord[/autotag] hit him in stride and the future first round pick did the rest.
Check out the best reactions from X, the website formerly know as Twitter, to the Buckeye score.
Check out your team’s haul in this three-round mock draft.
We are working our way toward the midway point of the 2023 NFL season so we decided it is time for a huge update to our three-round 2024 NFL mock draft. As we pour over all of the top draft-eligible prospects in college football, there is plenty of movement among the top prospects including USC quarterback Caleb Williams.
How far does Williams fall in this new mock draft update and is he still our first quarterback off the board? And where will guys like Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. and Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders land?
Be sure to check out all three rounds and see how your favorite team did.
2024 Scouting notebook from CFB Week 8: Big Ten stars on the rise, another McCaffrey and more
The Week 8 matchups in college football provided several key proving grounds for some prominent NFL draft prospects for 2024. Some looked worthy, while others showed more potential flaws. It also was a weekend where a couple of unheralded players shone.
Here are some notes and observations from a busy scouting weekend.
