Skull Session: Ryan Day Hopes OSU’s Quarterbacks Will “Separate From the Other,” Marvin Harrison Jr.'s Reps at Slot Receiver Are No Coincidence and NFL Scouts Talk Buckeyes

By Chase Brown on April 3, 2023 at 5:00 am
Marvin Harrison Jr.
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This weekend was fun.

But it's time to get back to work.

Let's have a good Monday, shall we?

 SEARCHING FOR SEPARATION. Much like Ohio State's first spring scrimmage on March 25, neither Kyle McCord nor Devin Brown performed well enough to be labeled an exclusive standout on Student Appreciation Day over the weekend.

Simply put, both quarterbacks were... fine. That's probably not the word many Ohio State fans want to hear, but it's the one I will use for Saturday's practice and scrimmage. Keep in mind, I use "fine" as it compares to Dwayne Haskins, Justin Fields and C.J. Stroud. Both McCord and Brown had good and bad reps, but neither was consistent enough to the standards of those who came before them.

The good news? That was practice eight of spring football, which means there's still plenty of time until McCord or Brown takes the field for the first offensive snap in Ohio State's season opener with Indiana on Sept. 2.

Still, Day said after the practice that he would like to see one of the quarterbacks "step out" and "separate from the other" as spring ball continues. The best way to do that, Day said, is to stack days, whether that's with on-field or off-field performance.

“I’d like to see one of the two really step out," Day said. "I don’t think we’ve seen that yet. But it would be nice to see one of them kind of separate from the other. But that takes a few practices in a row of consistent play.”

Until that happens, Day wants continued growth from his quarterbacks, especially in how they respond to failure and make mistakes. If they can do that consistently, they will continue to push each other with each opportunity, ultimately leading to one of them having the edge over the other.

“They’re growing. They’re learning,” Day said. “Every time you’re out there with the first team, it’s different than when you’re a backup. There are good days, and there are not-so-good days. And the whole thing is can you learn from your failures? When you do well, it’s great. But we’re all gonna fail. And that’s the thing, when you look at the elite quarterbacks, whether it’s in the NFL or in college, they learn from their mistakes quickly. They don’t make the same mistake twice. These guys are making mistakes just like any quarterback would. How quickly can they learn from their mistakes and grow?"

So here is to mistakes, failure and learning. May it lead to Day and quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis having their wish of either McCord or Brown being a frontrunner to win the starting job by the end of the spring and, hopefully, a spring game where they are lights-out competitors that put on a show for Ohio State fans in attendance and watching from afar.

 DON'T CHALLENGE ROUTE MAN MARV. After a breakout sophomore season for the Buckeyes, Marvin Harrison Jr. was the football program's first unanimous All-American at wide receiver and the first Ohio State player to earn that accolade since former offensive lineman Wyatt Davis in 2020.

Despite that accomplishment, people still have smooth brains and will say whatever they please. That includes a "rival coach," who pitted Harrison against his former teammate and future first-round pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba and called JSN "better than" him based on the latter's route tree and statistical production as a Buckeye.

Harrison took obvious exception to that claim, as the 6-foot-4, 205-pound pass-catcher retweeted a reply to the tweet stating he knows what to do with this information and that Ohio State's opponents should be on the lookout for a motivated Harrison next season.

Marv RT

And it looks like that motivation may already have been put to work over the weekend.

Of the many observations made by Eleven Warriors, other news outlets and Ohio State football fans from Saturday's Student Appreciation Day for the Buckeyes, one stood out to me: Marvin Harrison Jr. ran routes at the X, Y and the slot in the team's 7-on-7 reps and 11-on-11 scrimmage.

Coincidence? I think not!

While Harrison, Brian Hartline and Ryan Day would likely deny this, I believe the reason Harrison lined up and ran routes as a slot receiver on Saturday is absolutely, unequivocally because of the tweet featured above.

A "rival coach" said JSN was a better receiver than Harrison because he has a more diverse route tree – which is hilarious because Harrison's first nickname, even before Marvelous Marv and Super Marv, was Route Man Marv – and all of a sudden, the very next day, Harrison moves to the slot to show that he can run those routes, too?

Yeah, uh huh. Those events are totally unrelated.

Day provided what I believe is the knockout punch to this theory in his post-practice press conference. Just look at the diction or word choice he used when describing the decision to have Harrison in the slot for Ohio State's second spring scrimmage:

“It's a whole different deal with him inside. And they have to, on defense, decide, how they want to double him,” Day said. “It also helps with his route tree. It's something that happens – with Jaxon, a lot of the NFL personnel would ask, 'How's he gonna do on the outside?' When Chris (Olave) was coming out, 'Do you have any plays with him in the slot?' So it's a good thing to help him and his progression and his development. It's something we want to do. But it also is something for the defense to consider. So we'll keep working on that and we just want to keep building on his route tree.”

To be clear, do I like Marv in the slot? Of course. I like Marv wherever he is on the field, whether that's the X, Y, slot... punt returner... just kidding. But I find it funny that in all of the practices the media has watched, we never witnessed Harrison in the slot until Saturday, a few hours after some coach challenged him in anonymity.

And honestly, thank you to that coach. As "Brian Hartline's Cigar" tweeted, I feel bad for defenses next year. Harrison already had enough to prove by not winning the Biletnikoff Award in 2022. That coach added more fuel to Harrison's fire with this take, making him even more dangerous and making me very excited for 2023.

 SCOUTS WEIGH IN ON STROUD. The Athletic's Bruce Feldman posted a mock draft last week with the usual suspects scattered around the first 31 picks of the 2023 NFL draft, set for later this month from April 27-29.

Upon first look, Feldman's article looks the same as the others from Mel Kiper, Todd McShay and Co. But beyond the pick and the four to six sentences of analysis, Feldman spoke with several NFL coaches and scouts to collect their opinions on some of the league's best future talent, which includes three Ohio State products: C.J. Stroud, Paris Johnson Jr. and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Here is where Feldman placed Stroud, Johnson and JSN landed in the mock draft and what his sources think about the former Buckeyes:

C.J. Stroud, No. 1 overall to the Carolina Panthers

The Coaching Intel

“He’s so accurate and so calm. I wasn’t sure about the (Buckeyes’) previous guy’s ability to read coverage. But I know C.J. can. He has such a good ability to process, and his anticipation is so good. He runs better than you think. He’s the complete package.”

“He’s the most accurate quarterback I’ve ever played against. It’s like he couldn’t have handed the ball to his receivers any better, and they’re 30, 40 yards downfield. He’s got high-level NFL accuracy and NFL vision. I think he understands the game so well and gets it out in under three seconds. He has very high football IQ.”

“His accuracy downfield is really special. He’s bigger than you think and faster and harder to sack than people realize. I thought he’s better than Trevor Lawrence. He’s such a pure passer and can make all the throws. He does really unique stuff. Watch some of the stuff he did against Michigan. There are two plays in that game, one on a deep go-ball and another on a corner route, where the DB undercuts it. It’s to the wide side of the field, and he just drops it in over the outside shoulder. Then, I’m watching him against Georgia, against those guys, and he was dominant in that game. We did our best to disrupt the timing, and he still got us. We played more aggressively at the line of scrimmage and he made a bunch of big plays. On third-and-11s, in real rough spots, he was able to improvise when it wasn’t there. If we didn’t match a pattern or cover a guy just right, he took advantage every time.”

“I think he’ll be really good in the pros. He’s very smart. They did a good job with him. He keeps his eyes downfield. I think he’s confident. He understands protections. He’s got poise. He’s been on the big stage. Georgia’s defense is as good a comparison to the NFL as you’ll get, and look what he did to them.”

Paris Johnson Jr., No. 7 to the Las Vegas Raiders

“He’s a really solid player, very athletic and long. He does a really good job climbing to the second level on their gap plays and also sets the tone on their stretch plays that they run so well. When they decided to run the ball, they did it behind him.”

“I think he kept getting better and better over the year. You can see he got a lot more comfortable being in space and got better at using angles.”

“I know he’s good, but I think he got exposed at times by some elite pass rushers, which he’s gonna see every week in the NFL. I also wondered how physically tough he is.”

Jaxon Smith-Njigba, No. 11 to the Tennessee Titans

“You can line him up anywhere. He’s light on his feet. Really strong hands; is strong after the catch. Has great change of direction. He really blocks. He high-points it really well. Just a better all-around player than Olave and Wilson. I thought he was better than Marvin Harrison Jr., too. They’re different. You can put him in the slot and do a lot with him. I don’t think Harrison will be able to run certain routes. You can line (Smith-Njigba) off of the ball in stacks and bunches and really give people problems with pick routes, rub routes and Jerk routes. You see people playing with a three-corner defense with that nickel who is more of a blitzer (and) he will eat them alive.”

“He’s different than the other ones. There’s more quickness to him, more suddenness. He can really make you miss with the stops, re-starts.”

“He is really frickin’ good. When he was a sophomore (in 2021) he looked like a pro.”

With the draft a little under four weeks away, it's good to know that most scouts, aside from the one who made the third comment about Johnson and maybe a few others who need to go outside and touch grass, are on the same page that Stroud, Johnson and Smith-Njigba have the tools necessary to be standouts in the league.

Of course, possessing the tools and making the tools effective at the next level are two different things, so even though all three players are expected to be top picks on April 27, the trio of former Buckeyes has a long to go until anyone can know for sure whether or not they were worthy of their selections.

 WHAT'S GOIN' ON, JUWAN? Let me start this section with an important disclaimer: I understand Ohio State men's basketball had its worst season in recent memory in 2022-23, with a 16-19 record and no appearance in a postseason tournament.

How-evuh, that doesn't mean I must refrain from making fun of other college basketball programs. And that is especially true with Michigan, which went 18-16 with a loss to Vanderbilt in the NIT's second round this past season.

In case you missed it, Michigan head coach Juwan Howard and the Wolverines suffered several blows to their program's roster over the weekend, as All-Big Ten center Hunter Dickinson entered the transfer portal and All-Big Ten guard Kobe Bufkin entered the 2023 NBA draft. That news comes after Howard's son, Jett, declared for the draft in March.

With Dickinson, Bufkin and Jett Howard leaving the program, Michigan will be without its top-three scorers from this past season heading into 2023-24. To make matters worse – yes, it gets even worse, and it's beautiful – Juwan Howard and his staff are set to only add two players that make up the No. 39-ranked class for 2023.

Meanwhile, Chris Holtmann and Ohio State return Bruce Thornton, Roddy Gayle Jr., Felix Okpara and possibly Brice Sensabaugh from the No. 8 class of 2022 and welcome Taison Chatman, Scotty Middleton, Devin Royal and Austin Parks to Columbus in the No. 8 class of 2023.

Ohio State and Michigan ended this past season in relatively the same place, but the Buckeyes seemingly have a Grand Canyon-like difference in optimism surrounding the program compared to Howard and the Wolverines. Consider me a fan of that development, and know that I will have my calendar marked and popcorn ready for when Ohio State and Michigan meet on the hardwood next winter.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Natalie" by Bruno Mars.

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