Marvin Harrison Jr. of Ohio State has emerged as the undisputed top wide receiver in the 2024 NFL Draft throughout the pre-draft phase.
The son of the eponymous Hall of Fame wide receiver is anything but a typical nepotism candidate. A two-time unanimous All-American and the 2023 Biletnikoff Award winner, he is a true superstar. A different wide receiver leading the 2024 class hasn’t faced much resistance, and his record speaks for itself.
A few wide receivers have, nevertheless, distinguished themselves ahead of the 2024 selection. Consequently, one must wonder how much of a difference Harrison has with some of the other best wide receivers in this class.
I’ll utilize Malik Nabers of LSU and Rome Odunze of Washington, two receivers with first-round ratings on my board, for the purposes of this argument.
Nabers is the most athletic of the three, and he has the potential to be a big-play player thanks to his game-changing speed and exceptional lateral quickness. Despite being the smallest of the three, at 6-foot-0 and 195 pounds, he is by no means little. Vertical offenses should enjoy his ability to spread the field because of his incredible quickness after the catch.
Of the three, Odunze produced the most last season with 92 receptions for 1,640 yards, an FBS record, and 13 touchdowns. Compared to Nabers, he is a more versatile receiver with the bulky build that scouts adore. It may even be argued that he has somewhat superior ball abilities than Harrison.
After dissecting the three best receivers in the class for Windy City Gridiron, I thought it would be interesting to compare them all using my grading system. As may be observed, there aren’t always significant disparities between the three.
Based on his tape analysis, I’ve concluded that Harrison is the total package since he excels in the three key areas of the wide receiver position: size, speed, and route running acumen. Odunze has the size and route-running acumen, while Nabers have the superior speed. If you follow that reasoning, it becomes rather obvious that MHJ is the best receiver of the group.
The data, however, suggests that there isn’t a particularly large difference between the three wide receivers.
