How Kyler Murray, Marvin Harrison Jr. Duo Could Transform Cardinals

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In Murray’s first full season back in action, he found himself paired with a talented, yet inexperienced, WR1. It’s clear the 2024 first-round pick had immense potential, but at times he played like a rookie.

That’s no knock on Harrison, as playing like a rookie as a rookie is expected, but it hindered a full relationship from developing between the wide receiver and his starting quarterback. These two won’t have the same problem, as they admit Harrison’s graduation into his second season has allowed their connection to grow.

“Honestly, I would say communication and understanding what he's thinking and him understanding what I'm thinking,” Murray told reporters. “As a rookie, he might’ve been scared of me. I had to get to know him a little bit and he has to feel comfortable with you. We had to go through the fire to get the relationship going and keep making strides off the field so we could feel each other on and off the field.”

With a newfound understanding of each other, we might see something special between Murray and Harrison. Both are elite when they’re at their best, but we haven’t seen their full potential unleashed at the same time with the exception of Arizona’s home matchup with the Rams last year.

Harrison caught two touchdown passes that game and looked like the budding superstar many believe he is. With a furthered relationship with Murray, what we saw against L.A. could be the norm for all 17 games, and that’s certainly scary for the Cardinals’ opponents.

“‘Marv’ and I are in a great place. Honestly, night and day from when we drafted him to now. He’ll start conversations with me, I don’t have to beg him to talk to me or anything like this. I love where we’re at, now it’s just time to go execute,” Murray explained.

For a quarterback looking to prove the doubters wrong in Year 9 of his career, Murray could unlock a new level to his game with a receiver like Harrison. A win-win scenario might be an understatement here, as Murray’s words tell a story sure to put a grin on Cardinals fans’ faces.

Harrison attributes offseason growth to Murray

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While Murray has already established his identity within the locker room, Harrison has not. With Murray’s guidance, Harrison feels more comfortable, and this might allow him to have a breakout season.

“I think we kind of have more similar personalities, but I’m definitely more reserved. So it kind of takes me a while to get out of my shell a little bit, but definitely it’s a lot better now. Not like it was bad before, but I was a little quiet,” Harrison said.

Being reserved isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but as an emerging leader, Harrison’s ability to become more vocal could be key within the offense. Despite his young age, Harrison is Arizona’s top receiver, and he’ll need to lead like it.

This should translate wonderfully on the field, as Murray has allowed Harrison to find the confidence he was missing throughout most of last year. Coupled with his physical transformation, Harrison could evolve into one of the league’s best receivers, and he gives credit to Murray.

“Experience is a lot. Experience is something you can’t really teach when someone’s been in situations maybe other quarterbacks haven’t been in. This definitely brings a lot of confidence from me and this team as well. So it definitely means a lot,” Harrison said.

With these two on the same page, the sky’s the limit. We’ll have to see how the season plays out starting Sunday, but both Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr. seem to be on the right trajectory with a playoff berth as the common goal.