Marvin Harrison Jr. came out of Ohio State looking ready to light up the NFL, but he didn’t quite live up to the hype. The Arizona Cardinals took him with the No. 4 pick in the 2024 draft, and he was touted as a ready-made game-changer expected to impact the offense from his first snap. Harrison finished the season with 62 catches, 855 yards and eight touchdowns.
Those are solid numbers, just not quite what was expected from someone projected to take over the league. A lot of that probably comes down to unrealistic expectations—and the fact that he was only 22 years old.
Kyler Murray Says the Game Needs To Slow Down for Marvin Harrison Jr.
Despite the pre-draft hype and his consensus spot atop positional rankings, several rookies had better, more productive seasons. Yet, there’s time to play catchup, and consistency under center should facilitate that growth.
Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray sat down with the PHNX Cardinals Podcast and talked about Harrison’s rookie year and where he’s at now.
“He didn’t have the season he wanted to have regardless of the expectations,” Murray said. “I definitely think he could have a better season and he believes that too.”
“I think something that is underrated is people don’t understand, you know, from each level jump—whether it’s high school to college to the NFL—there’s a level, there’s a period where the game has to slow down for you,” Murray continued.
“We had a conversation like later in the year, like Week 10 or 11. He’s like, ‘When we played Buffalo the game was moving so fast for me,’” Murray said. “And I was like, ‘Well, s***, you know, I didn’t know that. You know, I know you didn’t know that.’ Like, no one knew that. Now everybody’s talking about how he played and he drops and stuff like that.”
As far as Murray is concerned, there’s nothing to worry about when it comes to the young receiver.
“I know he’s going to be who he’s supposed to be and be who everybody thinks he can be,” Murray said. “The game has to slow down for him … and once it does, everybody has that period of like, oh s***, like it clicks, you know what I mean? And at that point you take off.”
Now that Harrison has a full year under his belt and a chance to settle in, Murray already sees a difference.
“I think coming in as a fourth overall pick, you don’t want to talk. You want to prove yourself before you say anything,” Murray said. “Now that he is a staple, a guy for us … and I think that’ll only do wonders for his game to be able to trust us. Me and him, our connection and the way we go about things.”
If Murray’s right, a confident Harrison could be headed for a big second year.