Not many have the expectations that Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. had before taking his first NFL snap as the son of Hall of Fame wide receiver Marvin Harrison.
That’s why his debut last week was so disappointing. The No. 4 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft finished the day with just one catch for four yards.
It was a frustrating day for Harrison as Arizona fell to the Bills 34-28.
“I mean, obviously it wasn’t great,” Harrison said, via Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com. “Definitely wasn’t what I expected, what I wanted to happen, what the team wanted to happen. Obviously, you wanted to come out with a victory and we didn’t do that.”
Part of Harrison’s lack of production was due to him receiving just three targets all game. It was quite surprising given the draft capital the Cardinals spent to acquire him.
While some could place that blame on the shoulders of quarterback Kyler Murray, Harrison believes he must do a better job of getting open to make Murray’s job easier.
“That’s why it kind of brought me here is to help the team, help the offense go,” Harrison added. “So, I have to do a better job of that going forward. I got to get open and catch the ball. That’s my job as a receiver. That is your job description. That’s what I got to do a better job.”
Harrison did have a difficult time creating separation. According to Cardinals insider Kyle Odegard, Harrison’s max speed against Buffalo was 16.7 miles per hour, which he notes “is really slow” and “definitely something to monitor.”
However, the Bills tried to take Harrison out of the game by using cloud coverage. Murray is confident Arizona will find a way to get him more involved in the future.
“I’ll never lose confidence in Marv. It was his first game. We have to continue to get better and we will,” Murray said. “Obviously, we want to get him more touches. That’s not a secret, but I don’t want to go forcing things for sure.”
In Week 2, the Cardinals host the Los Angeles Rams, who allowed the 10th most total yards (363) in the league last week.