How Arizona Cardinals Can Help Marvin Harrison Jr. Break Out

The Arizona Cardinals need to find a way to unlock Marvin Harrison Jr.'s full potential in 2025.

Much has been written already about the possibility of a year-two breakout, how Harrison has improved his body and mind, and how much of the Cardinals' success hinges on Harrison's development.

But, from a technical standpoint, Arizona did not set their former No. 4 overall pick up for success schematically in 2024. That much was obvious from the eye test, but how can they remedy that in 2025?

CBS Sports' Jared Dubin had some thoughts on how to unlokc Harrison schematically:

How Arizona Cardinals Can Unlock Marvin Harrison Jr.

"One of the reasons Harrison did not create much separation and had to win in so many contested-catch situations is because the Cardinals did not scheme him into easy opportunities. There is a ton of low-hanging fruit available for Arizona to pick here if it wants to," Dubin wrote.

"First of all, the Cardinals can and should move Harrison around the formation more often. He doesn't always have to line up as the "X" receiver, and he especially doesn't always have to line up to the wide side of the field as often as he did a year ago."

"The Cards can also use him on different kinds of routes. They almost never got him the type of layup targets that generate a baseline of easy production for most No. 1 wide receivers.

"Last season, he had the 12th-highest average route break distance among the 280 players who ran 100 routes or more, per Tru Media. Nearly half his routes were go routes, posts, corners or crossers."

"Using him more often on wide receiver screens, slants and hitches as opposed to always asking him to run deep patterns should get him more involved in the offense and help to move the chains more frequently, making both Harrison himself and the offense more efficient," Dubin wrote.

The fact is, Harrison was not prioritized in Drew Petzing's offense. He was used as a sacrificial X receiver, and his "force-feed" targets were low-percentage lob fades.

Harrison has bulked up in preparation for a more physical year, but needs to get more opportunities in the open field as Dubin said.

While Harrison is not the speediest receiver in the league, he has a smoothness to his movement that could be reminiscent of a certain legendary Cardinals WR.

While Arizona will (and should) remain true to their identity offensively, Petzing needs to find a way to get his playmaker involved. There's a balance between force-feeding too heavily and finding a way to let your top receiver prospect make plays.

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