Marvin Harrison Jr. Snubbed From ESPN's Midseason All-American Team
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - DECEMBER 31: Marvin Harrison Jr. #18 of the Ohio State Buckeyes runs after a catch during the second quarter against the Georgia Bulldogs in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 31, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
ESPN unveiled its midseason All-America Team on Tuesday. They had to make a tough cut at wide receiver.
LSU's Malik Nabers and Missouri's Luther Burden III understandably garnered the two spots as the nation's leading wide receivers. That left no room for Marvin Harrison Jr.
"Pretty crazy that after being a preseason All-American, and after averaging 100 receiving yards per game, and being the best receiver in college football... Marvin Harrison Jr. was left off the midseason All-American team," Ohio State writer Spencer Holbrook vented.
Harrison is the bigger name at the bigger program, and he'll likely be the first wide receiver drafted next year. However, the two wideouts selected have enjoyed better seasons thus far.
Harrison has 31 catches for 604 yards and five touchdowns in six games. Meanwhile, Nabers has 52 catches for 860 yards and seven touchdowns. Burden has 56 receptions for 808 yards and five scores.
ESPN didn't go out on a limb with those choices. CBS Sports also picked Nabers and Burden to its Midseason All-America team.
Besides, Harrison wasn't even the toughest snub. Washington's Rome Odunze is third in receiving yards (736) with six touchdowns in as many games.
Harrison has exceeded 100 yards with at least one touchdown four times. But he opened his junior year with just 18 yards in a win over Indiana and collected 32 yards when getting injured against Notre Dame.
The son of the former Indianapolis Colts star is an elite talent with the brightest future of any college receiver. However, only a biased Buckeyes fan would be bothered about him getting left off an arbitrary midseason list of no tangible significance.
Of course, Harrison still has time to justify an actual All-American spot by the end of the season. That effort continues when the Buckeyes play No. 7 Penn State in a huge Big Ten clash this Saturday.
