Arizona Cardinals Need to See These 3 Things From Marvin Harrison Jr.

It’s year two for Marvin Harrison Jr., and the hype is still crazy for last year’s fourth overall pick. It has certainly calmed down after last year’s insane hopes, but there’s still plenty of hope for him to go off with a year under his belt.

With training camp and preseason coming up, there are certain aspects to Harrison’s development that we will be looking for specifically to see how he’s coming along. These are three things I’ll be looking out for in particular to give me a good idea of where we’re at before the season starts:

Preseason Reps

Harrison saw the field in preseason for less than a blink of an eye last year, and I truly think it may have impacted his league debut. No, I don’t think playing every second of the preseason would’ve made his first career game against the Buffalo Bills a legendary one, but I think he would’ve been more comfortable.

The Cardinals can’t make that mistake again this year. All reps are important for a young player, and we need to cool down a bit with the demonization of the preseason. Get Harrison his reps this year and make up for last year.

How Does That New Size Look?

In case you missed it, Harrison is STACKED. I’ve joked that he looks like David Boston, to which Cardinals fans have justifiably barked at me about, but he truly looks insanely different this season. My question is whether that size will impact his on-field performance for the better.

Harrison struggled with separation at times last season, so perhaps bulking up will be able to help him create space; he should be winning most 50/50 ball contests at worst.

Let’s see how Harrison carries his newfound weight.

Polished Route Running

Harrison had several terrific qualities coming out of Ohio State, but the way he could stack defenders as a route runner and create separation was where we saw his best. We need to see more of that in year two.

There was plenty of good to work on from his rookie season, and hopefully a more diversified route tree can help get him back on track. It would be encouraging to see Harrison dice up defensive backs throughout the preseason and training camp — especially considering how much more talented he is than his opposition.

Harrison and the Cardinals are set to begin training camp next week.