"I'm not a doctor. It really comes down to their expertise. But the type of problems he's had, there's just no reason (for him not to fully recover). There's no reason both knees can't be sound. The one knee (left) that had the cartilage problem, that's pretty much sound and ready to go. The other knee is coming along and there's no reason he can't be ready (for '08).'' - owner Jim Irsay to the Indianapolis Star on March 27.

"I think Marvin's going to be fine. That's what we're hoping for. We'll see. It was kind of strange last year. It was every couple of weeks, 'he should be ready to go,' and it didn't happen. My sense is with an off-season, he'll be good to go." - head coach Tony Dungy to Colts.com on April 1.


The Colts don't expect wide receiver Marvin Harrison to be ready for the start of training camp. You know him, right? He's the guy who strung together a mere eight straight seasons of at least 1,100 yards and 10 touchdowns from 1999-2006. On September 30, 2007, just four weeks into the season, Harrison's left knee buckled when he was hit on a running play. The future Hall of Famer played one more regular season contest and in the single postseason game, but he wasn't the same. He missed the other 11 contests.

After the season, Harrison underwent left knee surgery for the "cartilage problem." The right knee was left untouched. The Colts never revealed the problem with that joint.

Over the past couple months, rumors about Harrison's status have surfaced. Are the Colts prepared to release the 35-year-old wideout? Did he undergo a more major operation than the team has admitted? Is his career over? Adding fuel to the fire is a recent NFL.com report that the Colts are looking at Mario Manningham and Early Doucet, a couple receivers they might take in the upcoming draft. Doucet would presumably come in the second round, which is the team's first pick.

All we know for sure is that Harrison is still with the Colts and that the organization isn't sure he'll be ready for the start of training camp in late July. As the quotes suggest, though, Irsay and Dungy think Marv will be ready for Week 1.

We'll have to wait for more answers. In the meantime, we can only play the game of "What if?"

What if Harrison isn't participating in drills as of, say, August 1? What if he's still limited as of August 15 and the Colts are raving about Anthony Gonzalez and (insert rookie receiver here)?

What if, on the positive side, he is running around, taking hits, and catching passes by late July? Do you trust his knees enough to still make him a high pick?

Either way, I don't believe Harrison will be a top-10 fantasy receiver come August 1. It will be the first time in nearly a decade that Marv won't be in the top-five at this position, but look at this list and ask yourself where Harrison fits in:

Randy Moss, Patriots
Terrell Owens, Cowboys
Braylon Edwards, Browns
Reggie Wayne, Colts
Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals
Marques Colston, Saints
T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Bengals
Steve Smith, Panthers
Torry Holt, Rams
Chad Johnson, Bengals
Plaxico Burress, Giants
Andre Johnson, Texans

I haven't hashed out the exact order, but those are my top 12 guys at the moment. An angry Chad Johnson is probably the only one in danger of fighting his way off the list before August.

Then we come to another tier that includes Greg Jennings, Anquan Boldin, Roy Williams, Wes Welker, and (probably) Brandon Marshall. And I don't doubt that Lee Evans, Donald Driver, Santonio Holmes, and/or Hines Ward might hype their way into that tier before late July.

Currently, I have Harrison in a holding pattern between Jennings/Boldin and Williams/Welker. If Marv is working out early in training camp and looking fine, he'll probably settle in at 13. I feel that strongly about the top 12.

If Marv is sitting on the sidelines come August 15 and reports are vague about Week 1, then we'll have quite the conundrum on our hands. Could you still draft him as a No. 2 fantasy receiver? I listed 21 receivers other than Harrison thus far, and I could throw in Roddy White, Dwayne Bowe, Calvin Johnson, and Joey Galloway. If Marv's status remains iffy as of August 15, do you drop him out of the top-25? And how high do you move up Gonzalez?

That seems like quite a stretch for one of the most prolific receivers in NFL history, but rumors suggest we may be getting to that time with Harrison. The media also has a habit of jumping to drastic conclusions, and I don't want readers to think I'm doing the same here. Rather, I'm simply asking fantasy football people to consider a sticky scenario that might be coming four months down the road.