Marvin Harrison Jr. 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. Which team will land him in a trade is still unknown, with the expected destination to be announced after the Week 5 games. Harrison will also be inactive for the Cardinals home game against the Lions to preserve his health.
The insiders are hinting that the Texans will be the landing spot, and that would make some sense after they had a band-aid solution with Kayshon Boutte in the wake of the preseason Jayden Higgins ACL tear. Houston’s WR room has had the highest contested catch rate in the NFL by a wide margin. I’m not sure Harrison will be overly helpful in fixing that, but I understand the urgency sitting at 0-4 despite C.J. Stroud playing above-average ball at QB.
Harrison simply wasn’t trying hard enough in 2025. The blocking reps were laughable, and his lethargy on routes when he wasn’t the first-read target was as bad as anyone in the NFL. There would be times where he’d surprisingly be the first read, and his lack of burst off the break due to his effort would create an incompletion or interception. It was a real problem in Arizona, likely because his involvement in the offense was so minuscule after Trey McBride and Michael Wilson proved to be much superior players.
When Harrison was going all out, which I think was happening in the last contest to be fair, he has some positive and some negative traits. The positives are that he can sink his hips on breaking routes and has a large catch radius to be an effective in- and out-cut player. Some of his best moments throughout his career have been on crossing routes and digs. He also can make highlight plays as a fade receiver given his size, and that’s how he scored his touchdown just last week.
If things improve, this is how a quality No. 2 WR like Courtland Sutton can help an offense, but he currently is more in the Dontayvion Wicks, Romeo Doubs, and Keon Coleman range as a low-volume intermediate to deep threat, who can (and should) be moved around the formation more than he was in Arizona.
His flaws are pretty obvious, and some of them seem close to unfixable.
Harrison is simply not fast enough to be a high-end vertical threat. He can fight off press coverage and stack a CB initially at times, but any early-route separation can be closed by above-average defenders. He’s 39th in total targets since 2024, yet 10th in contested targets. His percentage of targets that are contested is fourth out of 94 WRs.
Harrison has had catch point issues in each season, too. There are some attempts that get into his chest, allowing for defenders to make last-second plays on the ball. But the main issue has just been concentration drops. He’s dropped 10 passes in 2.25 years, and his 8% drop rate on catchable passes is 36th out of 94 WRs. I believe there are more than that on his film for what it’s worth.
Harrison also does not show much after the catch in terms of wiggle and creativity, so the Cardinals have only thrown him six passes behind the line of scrimmage (2% of his targets) in his career. His 2.5 yards after the catch per completion is 90th out of 94 WRs.
Of these issues, I do think he can improve his ball skills with more work the easiest. It really was not a problem in college and has been the most puzzling part of watching his pro career so far. He also could get faster within reason, if he stops trying to put on more muscle. Size is never his problem. It really is his mediocre speed. Losing some weight to threaten CBs more vertically will afford him more space so he can win on these in-breakers, which is the best part of his game. Players can develop in the pros, but why that hasn’t happened in either of the previous offseasons is fair to question. Hopefully the change of scenery will help him out.
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Cardinals Fantasy Fallout
We’ll get to Harrison’s fantasy value once we know the landing spot, but anywhere else is good news. He should be rostered in all 12-team leagues while we wait.
Michael Wilson won the battle with ease. He’s just way better in all phases. The Cardinals have been willing to feature him at all levels, and even throw him the ball on 1st-, 2nd-, and 4th-down with the game on the line just last week. Through four weeks this year, Wilson is the WR22 on WR6 usage. Since Week 11 of last year, Wilson only trails Puka Nacua, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Chris Olave, and Amon-Ra St. Brown in fantasy points per game (15.5). He’s WR2 in air yards per game and WR3 in targets per game during that stretch, too. I think he’s far more of a fantasy WR2 than the market believes, and I am absolutely not ruling out another fantasy WR1 stretch with Jacoby Brissett in the near term. 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-time role with just Simi Fehoko and Jalen Brooks as the backups on the boundary. He’s best in the slot, but he’s trusted by coach Mike LaFleur and has already been the WR24 on WR25 usage in a game this season. Bourne is a great bench pickup ahead of the Lions-Cardinals shootout this week in 12-team leagues. There is a PPR scam waiting.
Trey McBride is largely unaffected, but it just makes his case as the fantasy TE1 stronger against equally elite Brock Bowers. Both would be second-round picks at the very worst right now.