Cardinals Must Get Creative With Marvin Harrison Jr.

The Arizona Cardinals are counting on Marvin Harrison Jr. to be a star for them on offense.

He is one of the most gifted prospects to come out of the draft in a long time at the wide receiver position, so the Cardinals should take advantage.

ESPN analyst Ben Solak thinks that means the Cardinals should utilize him a bit differently than they did in 2024.

"Arizona's role for Harrison was fairly predictable to start the season. He lined up out wide and ran down the field, looking for targets on go balls or on the back shoulder. Harrison had 52 targets against press coverage (second only to Ja'Marr Chase) in large part because opposing defenses knew the Cardinals would stick their outside receivers on the line of scrimmage and not move them," Solak wrote. 

" ... Harrison simply was not used creatively last season, when he had 885 yards and eight TDs. He was asked to play the game on hard mode as a rookie, winning all of his catches through contact. He was never hidden from the opponent's best cover man. He could have won a few more jump balls than he did, but Murray could have thrown him a few better jump balls, and offensive coordinator Drew Petzing also certainly could have eased his burden with a bunch set or two. I was wholly unimpressed by the Cardinals' plan for Harrison last season and remain accordingly optimistic on his future as a good NFL wide receiver."

If the Cardinals can give Harrison some different looks in his second season in the league, it could lead to more individual success for the former Ohio State wideout, and therefore, Arizona could get better as a team as well.

Unlocking Harrison's full potential could be the difference in the Cardinals being under .500 or over.