It appears unlikely that Marvin Harrison Jr. will play in the Cotton Bowl.
While the Ohio State wide receiver is in Texas with the team and hasn’t yet confirmed that he will opt out of the game, the projected top-three NFL draft pick was not in uniform Tuesday as the Buckeyes went through their third practice of Cotton Bowl week, the first one that was open to media members.
Harrison’s apparent decision not to play against Missouri comes as little surprise as the two-time unanimous All-American is projected to be the first non-quarterback selected in the 2024 NFL draft. His draft stock has nothing to gain from playing against the Tigers, but his standing as a top prospect could take a hit if he was to suffer an injury.
Assuming Harrison goes through with opting out, Ohio State will be without two of its starting wide receivers from the regular season as Julian Fleming is no longer with the team after entering the transfer portal. Carnell Tate and Xavier Johnson are the leading candidates to take their places in the starting lineup alongside Emeka Egbuka.
Outside of Harrison, the only other Ohio State starter who was not in uniform for Tuesday’s practice was Lathan Ransom, who has already been ruled out of the Cotton Bowl due to the injury he suffered in Ohio State’s final game of October against Wisconsin. While there hasn’t yet been confirmation that the likes of TreVeyon Henderson, Cade Stover, JT Tuimoloau, Mike Hall and Tommy Eichenberg will play against Missouri, all of them were on the field going through drills on Tuesday.
Freshman offensive tackle Miles Walker was not in uniform for Tuesday’s practice and appeared to be wearing a sling on his arm while freshman wide receiver Nolan Baudo rode a stationary bike alongside Harrison and did not participate in practice drills.
Below, you can watch a few short clips from Tuesday’s open practice window, including footage of quarterbacks Devin Brown and Lincoln Kienholz throwing to Ohio State’s wide receivers and Brown handing the ball off to Henderson.
