Oregon junior offensive lineman Marcus Harper understands brotherhood, and patience.
A ten-game starter last season, he didn't start playing tackle football until his freshman year of high school,
His father had concerns about the wear and tear of the game, insisting that he wait until high school. Before that, Harper kept busy in a variety of sports, flag football, basketball, baseball, soccer and swimming.
The cross-training helped him develop as an athlete, but as Marcus told Mike Clark of the Chicago Sun-Times, “Freshman year, I came in off the street without a lick of football knowledge.”
Still, he caught up quickly, starting three years for the Homewood-Flossmoor Vikings on a team that made the playoffs for ten seasons in a row. The offense averaged 36 points a game his junior year, 32 when he was a senior. Harper earned 17 scholarship offers, including five in the Big Ten, to Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Michigan State and Nebraska.
He said to reporter Joe Smith of his high school paper, The Voyager, “We’ve heard all year that we have the best O-line in the state of Illinois. We definitely hold ourselves to that standard in practice every single day because we know teams are planning to stop us up front first.”
Harper said. “I’ve been a part of several O-lines at HF, but this group is just different from our chemistry and what we bring to the table. We’re just special!”
The brotherhood continued off the field. “For the most part, if you see one of us, you’ll find another one of us. We try to hang out after school because we’re even funnier outside of football,” Harper said.
His potential emerged right away. Rivals analyst Josh Hemholdt scouted him as a sophomore. He said to Clark, “And although he was still raw, the tools and attitude were there. This is a young man who loves to play the game and loves to be an offensive lineman."
The love led him to Eugene. When it came time to pick a college in December 2019, Harper chose to leave behind home, friends and family to become an Oregon Duck.
He didn't play as a freshman in 2020, got in 7 games in 2021, mostly in mop-up duty. Finally in the home opener in 2022 against Eastern Washington, he earned his first career college start.
The next week after practice, Marcus said to the press, "In this time when I wasn't getting in, I really just wanted to get my spirit right because I know I really do love the game of football".
"I didn't want to be one of those guys where I just sat behind and I wasn't improving myself — whether that was physically, spiritually, or mentally — and over these last 1,014 days, that's what I've been doing."
He's honed his body since coming in as a high schooler.
Harper turned all the individual work and waiting into a strong season as a sophomore. He started ten straight games for the Ducks and played in all 13, mostly at guard, recording a PFF pass blocking grade of 81.1. In 343 pass-blocking snaps he allowed zero sacks and just nine pressures all season.Good Feet 👣 pic.twitter.com/XNHS1KBNRL
— Marcus Harper II (@Marcus2_H) July 29, 2023
The Webfoot offense thrived. Last year they were sixth nationally in total offense at 500.5 yards per game and 10th in scoring at 38.8 points per game. They ran for 300 yards in a game three times, including November 12th against Washington.
This year, Harper's slated to be a full-time starter, either at left guard or center. He absorbed the nuances of that position from (now-graduated) five-year veteran Alex Forsyth.
"Center's a lot harder than people think. I played center a couple times last year, just in practice, here and there. It's a different feel," Harper said. "You're the second quarterback of the offense. The O-line kind of runs through you. You also gotta assert your dominance while also getting the ball to the quarterback consistently. That's kind of been my biggest growing pain right now but you know I'm gonna get to it."
In fall camp he and Jackson Powers-Johnson will practice snaps. Both pride themselves on their position versatility.
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