Marvin Harrison Jr., With Just One Catch This Season, Continues To See His Stock Plummet

There are 220 players with two or more catches this season. Among them: Nate Adkins, Jared Wayne, LaJohntay Wester, Brady Russell, Brevyn Spann-Ford and Lan Larison.

One notable player not on that list of 220: Marvin Harrison Jr.

It's early in the season but there is already a lot of worry about Harrison. It's not just two games. It's 31 underwhelming games into his career for the Arizona Cardinals receiver. He has just two 100-yard games. He has one game with more than six catches. And two games into this season he has one catch for 33 yards. The Cardinals threw it 28 times in Week 2 against the Seahawks and Harrison was targeted only once.

Harrison was one of the most exciting receiver prospects ever. He was the fourth overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, after three really good quarterbacks (Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye) were picked. Nobody is excited anymore.

A report from Dan Graziano of ESPN said some executives are wondering if the Cardinals could trade Harrison before the deadline this season. The problem might be finding a team that is willing to give up anything of value to get him. Given the buzz around Harrison a little more than two years ago, that's startling.

Marvin Harrison Jr. catches criticism

The tide has been turning on Harrison, and a video that went viral this week is going to further paint the picture of a player who is never going to live up to the hype that surrounded him when he entered the NFL.

The video posted by @RookieWatxh shows Harrison's routes from Week 2 against Seattle. Harrison looks checked out. There is no crispness or explosion within the routes. The video was viewed by 1.7 million people on X as of Wednesday morning.

That's not a good look, and it's no wonder why he only got one target against the Seahawks. Targets are earned, and he didn't do enough to get open.

Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur defended Harrison when he spoke to the media on Monday.

"I think his running style is different than some other people's, I'd say that," LaFleur said. "If that's people's narrative on him that's fine, but I know his teammates don't feel that way."

Perhaps that's true. But Harrison's role in the offense and his production, or lack thereof, is undeniable.

Will Cardinals get Harrison more involved?

When LaFleur was asked about getting Harrison involved more, he didn't seem too excited about the idea.

"It's like, well just get some easy completions to get going," LaFleur told the media on Monday. "That's fine. You also have Trey McBride, who's one of the best undernearth guys in the world, and there's only about 60, 65 plays a game. And you have to run the ball, and you have Kendrick [Bourne] who works underneath pretty well too, so everyone kind of has their role right there."

It's a fair assessment. After what we've seen from Harrison, why would the Cardinals go out of their way to get him more involved?

There have been a few moments of promise for Harrison, and he hasn't been horrendous (608 yards in 12 games last season). But he has not been anywhere near a reliable No. 1 receiver. Maybe not even a great No. 2 receiver. When Michael Wilson filled in for an injured Harrison last season, in his first three games he had at least 10 catches and 118 yards in each of them. Harrison has never had 10 catches in a game and 118 yards only once in three seasons.

When Harrison was getting ready for the draft, he did not work out at the combine and did not work out for teams. He let his impressive college tape at Ohio State speak for itself. In retrospect, seeing the lack of explosiveness from Harrison in the NFL, maybe he knew he wouldn't test well and it would affect his draft stock. He doesn't play like someone who would have run a 4.3 40-yard dash at the combine.

It's not over for Harrison for this season or his career. There's a reason he was such a highly coveted draft prospect. He was excellent at Ohio State. He's just 24 years old and 31 games isn't enough for every player to show what he'll be in the NFL. Two games, which includes one against a stellar Seahawks defense, doesn't provide a definitive answer for what Harrison's role will be.

It just doesn't look good so far this season. LaFleur is part of a new staff that didn't have anything to do with drafting Harrison. They don't seem particularly interested in increasing his usage, nor has Harrison earned a bigger share.

Maybe some team will trade for Harrison this season. Maybe it won't make a difference.