Marvin Harrison Jr. He lasted 2.25 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals after being selected with the No. 4 overall pick in the loaded 2024 NFL Draft WR class. It is still unknown which team will trade him down, with the intended destination to be announced after the Week 5 games. Harrison will also rest for the Cardinals’ home game against the Lions to preserve his health.
The insiders are hinting that the Texans have a spot on the docket, and that would make some sense after they had a rookie quarterback when Kayshon Boutte tore Jayden Higgins’ ACL in the preseason accident. Houston’s WR Room had the highest competition in the NFL by a wide margin. I’m not sure Harrison will be very helpful in fixing that, but I understand the urgency of sitting at 0-4 despite CJ Stroud playing above average football at QB.
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Harrison is simply not hard enough in 2025. Blocking reps were mocked, and lethargy on routes when the first target wasn’t read was as bad as anyone in the NFL. There were times when I would wonder if I was the first to read his lack of a break for his efforts would create an incompleteness or interception. It was a real problem in Arizona, likely because the involvement of the offense was so minimal after Trey McBride and Michael Wilson proved to be much superior players.
While Harrison went all out, which is supposed to be fair in the final match, he has some positive and negative traits. The positives are that he can sink his hips on breaking routes and has a great catch radius to be an effective offensive player. He digs the best of every moment in every race of the road crossing. It can also make highlight plays as the receiver’s face He gave his size, and that’s how his touch was scored last week.
If things get better, this is quality No. A 2 WR like Courtland Sutton can help the offense, but now there’s more in Dontayvion Wicks, Romeo Doubs and Keon Coleman as a low volume intermediate to high threat who can (and should) move around the formation more than in Arizona.
Its flaws are quite obvious, and some of them seem almost unfixable.
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Harrison simply isn’t Herculean enough to be a top end vertical threat. He can fight press coverage and the initial stack at times from the CB, but any first-route separation can be blocked by above-average defenders. He is 39th in total goals since 2024, but 10th in goals. The percentage of targets who tackle is fourth out of 94 WRs.
Harrison had to take point questions in each season as well. There are some attempts that go into his chest, allowing the defenders to make the final plays on the ball. But the main reason is that the connection just drops. He drops 10 in 2.25 years, and his 8% drop rate is 36th out of 94 WRs. I believe it’s worth more than the movie itself.
Harrison also hasn’t shown much after the catch in terms of crunch and creativity, which is why the Cardinals have thrown just six passes behind the line of scrimmage (2% of targets) in his career. He finished 90th out of 94 WRs by completing 2.5 yards after the catch.
Of these things, I think that the group can work very easily to improve their skills. The situation in college was not a problem and it was the most intractable to his speculation for his career so far. He could also gain weight faster if he tries to put on more muscle. Size is never his problem. His speed is average. Losing some weight that threatens more CBs vertically will give him more space to beat those in-breakers, which is the best part of the game. Players can be deployed in the pros, but it’s fair to ask why it wasn’t done in either of the previous offseasons. Hopefully a change of scenery will help him.
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Cardinal’ Fantasy Fallout
Suppose we know the value of Harrison’s fantasy once at port, but otherwise good news. He should run into all twelve teams while we wait.
Michael Wilson easily won the battle. The road is better at all levels. The Cardinals wanted to feature him at all levels, including throwing the ball on 1st-, 2nd-, and 4th-downs with next week’s line game. Through four weeks this year, Wilson is WR22 in practice WR6. Since Week 11 of last year, Wilson has only drawn Puka Nacua, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Chris Olave and Amon-Ra St. Brown in fantasy points per game (15.5). He is WR2 in rushing yards per game and WR3 in targets per game in that stretch as well. I think there are far more fantasy WR2s than the market believes, and I would absolutely not rule out another fantasy WR1 deal with Jacoby Brissett in the offseason. Things will get dicier if and when they turn to third-round rookie QB Carson Beck, but Wilson is simply too big to fail in fantasy.
Kendrick Bourne will move to a near-full role with just Simi Fehoko and Jalen Brooks back on the line. He’s the best in the slot, but he’s been trusted by coach Mike LaFleur and has already been a WR24 in WR25 practice this season. Bourne was a big bench pick for the Lions-Cardinals earlier this week in the 12 league ditches. It’s a PPR scam waiting.
Trey McBride is largely missing, but that only makes his case as a stronger fantasy TE1 against the likes of Brock Bowers. Both would be tied around the other, but now they are very bad.