Striving to improve after the catch, Marvin Harrison Jr. believes it’s a ‘mindset thing’

COLUMBUS — Everyone’s heard about it, some have seen in it action. Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. loads up the Monarc pass-catching machine and trots out to his spot in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

It’s like clockwork.

The Monarc fires the pass, Harrison catches it. Rinse and repeat.

Every once in a while, there is a rare drop, an anomaly of sorts for the 2022 Biletnikoff Award finalist, who didn’t have one through the first 11 games of last season.

Harrison was due to speak to local media, who were watching him run through his post-practice workout with rehabbing Buckeyes walk-on wideout Reis Stocksdale Tuesday. Harrison obliged, of course, but only after 20 more minutes of pass-catching repetition.

Harrison — already projected to be the highest-drafted wide receiver since Calvin Johnson Jr. went No. 2 overall in 2007 — is always trying to refine his skill set, even if it means extending an extension of practice.

But the area of his game he’s been focusing on the most this offseason requires more than just practice or any extra pass-catching machine sessions.

Harrison wants to improve after the catch. To do that, he needs game reps.

“It’s hard at practice,” Harrison said, “you catch the ball and you get tagged off. You can only do so much. But I think after the catch is definitely a mindset thing.

“It’s not letting the first person tackle you. Trying to do as much as you can after the catch. I think it’s really just a mindset. You can’t really practice that as much.”

Harrison’s catch radius wows. At 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, the Ohio State superstar can go up and get, or stretch out for, just about any pass. He has no problem creating separation on his releases, and he can pull away from defensive backs in open space.

Harrison knows he can be more elusive, though.

He knows he can do a better job of making that first defender miss.

Harrison’s 323 yards after the catch (YAC) in 2022 were good for second among all Ohio State receivers. He was far behind his partner-in-crime, Emeka Egbuka, who finished with 526 YAC, according to Pro Football Focus.

For reference, Egbuka was second last year in the Big Ten in YAC, behind only Illinois wideout Isaiah Williams, per PFF. Harrison was sixth.

What’s interesting is that in 2022, according to PFF, YAC accounted for 45.7% of Egbuka’s receiving total and 43% of Ohio State’s third-leading wideout Julian Fleming’s receiving total but only 25.6% of Harrison’s receiving total.

Granted, Harrison had a higher average depth of target (14.3 yards) than Egbuka (10.2 yards) and Fleming (11.4), but there’s no ignoring that Harrison’s YAC/reception (4.2) were tied for 55th in the Big Ten last season, per PFF.

It’s going to be even more important for Harrison if he’s in the slot more this fall, something that Harrison and the Buckeyes’ staff experimented with this offseason.

Harrison lined up in the slot just 13.7% of his pass snaps in 2022, according to PFF. Egbuka, Ohio State’s “slot receiver,” was inside for 68.3% of his pass snaps. Keep in mind, of the Big Ten’s top-four YAC leaders last year, three were in the slot at least 67% of their pass snaps. Former Purdue, and current Cincinnati Bengals, wideout Charlie Jones was the lone exception.

“I think if you just look at the slot receivers in Ohio State’s offense over the past couple years,” Harrison said, “there’s a lot of success dating back to K.J. Hill, Parris Campbell, Jaxon [Smith-Njigba], Garrett [Wilson] for one year, Emeka last year. Slot is a very important piece in our offense, and then, even from a run blocking standpoint … we ask our slots sometimes to dig out linebackers and to block D-Ends.”

Harrison continued: “I think I definitely can do that in the offense and also just being a mismatch. I mean, I like my chances against a safety anytime. So I think it just definitely brings a different element to the offense.”

Harrison is equipped to bring that element.

He can also make the first defender miss — if he taps into that after-the-catch mindset.

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