Setting Realistic Expectations for Arizona Cardinals WR Marvin Harrison Jr.

Many, including myself, had lofty expectations for Arizona Cardinals WR Marvin Harrison Jr in his rookie season.

His prestige as the son of an NFL Hall of Famer, a major college football award winner, and coming out of one of the top programs in the country will do that to you. He was made the fourth overall pick last year and thus was assigned the highest of expectations that one may receive.

It turns out Harrison is just like anyone else and placing superhuman expectations on him was never fair. What's worse is his rookie season was a damn good one, but that's all for not when you enter the pros with the hopes of constructing a legitimately historic, even record-setting league debut.

What Should Arizona Cardinals Fans Expect From Marvin Harrison Jr. in 2025?

Harrison cranked out 62 receptions for 885 yards and 8 touchdowns across 17 games. His touchdown total set a franchise rookie record, by the way. On an inconsistent offense (at best), it shouldn't be a wonder why his numbers didn't become the gaudy stats we dreamed of.

Between otherworldly, and wildly unfair expectations, to go along with impressive numbers from his colleagues, it came across as though Harrison's rookie season was a near failure. That's not close to being true, but we can right the wrong moving forward.

As he enters year two, we can create some more realistic expectations for Harrison. Given the offense underwent almost zero changes, we need to make sure that our hopes and dreams can remain grounded in reality.

What's fair to ask then? 1,000 receiving yards is always the benchmark for a successful season out of the wide receiver position. Given Harrison was just shy of 900 yards as a rookie, we can say it's understandable to look for him to top that number. There will be expectations for more consistency on a game-to-game basis, of course.

If Harrison can avoid too many stinker games, 1,000 yards is entirely within reach. It also stands to reason that we should see a rise in his receptions. 62 isn't nothing, but he needs to make a nice jump. Around 75 catches feels attainable if the Cardinals want to air things out as a passing team, maybe we could see him closer to 80.

Then we have touchdowns, the area where Harrison stood out the most. Eight scores as a rookie in a not-so-great offense is quite impressive. Considering he has nearly no competition for touchdowns in the passing game, I would expect and hope that number stays around the same.

With all of this in mind, I believe a logical and fair expectation for year two would look something like this: 75 receptions | 1,000 yards | 8 touchdowns.

Those are numbers that he would've hovered around last season with more consistency, play calling, and a strong connection with Kyler Murray. Should those factors all improve, that kind of season feels more than realistic.

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