Week 2 has unfortunately made it clear that the Arizona Cardinals have a Marvin Harrison Jr. problem on their hands.
Concerns about Harrison's lack of effort have been blown out of proportion on social media, with head coach Mike LaFleur saying it's more about Harrison's unique running style than anything else. While that's a nonissue in the Valley, everyone is just doing their best to make sense of a puzzling situation surrounding Arizona's former No. 4 overall draft investment.
Through two games, Harrison has one reception on four targets for 33 yards. He's coming off a goose egg in Arizona's blowout 31-7 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, receiving just one target from quarterback Jacoby Brissett in that contest.
A quiet Week 1 was understandable as Harrison was a focal point of the defense. It wasn't cause for concern either, considering Arizona pulled off the biggest upset of Week 1 with a 26-14 road win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
But Harrison's disappearance against Seattle -- a game where Brissett desperately could've used another playmaking weapon to ease the burden of an overwhelming Seahawks defense -- is far harder to justify. Lack of production is one thing. Players have bad games sometimes; the matchup wasn't ideal, etc. But to not even look Harrison's direction?
Cardinals must use this season to evaluate Marvin Harrison Jr.
This is a make-or-break season for Harrison, who is running out of time to prove he belongs as the Cardinals' WR1. Many were eager to see a breakout, but early signs are incredibly discouraging. There's still plenty of time for Harrison and Brissett to form a better connection, and the Cardinals need to do a better job overall of getting him involved in the offense.
Harrison may have flaws and a long way to go to return value on his top-five draft investment. He's still talented and can make plays nobody outside of Trey McBride can out of this group of Cardinals pass catchers. At the very least, Arizona must do a better job of getting Harrison involved to see what they have in him. With no realistic playoff aspirations, this season is a perfect window for Arizona to prioritize player development and evaluation.
Plenty of uncertainty remains about whether Harrison is a legitimate draft bust, Arizona's WR1 of the future, or, most likely, somewhere in between. Lack of production is one thing, but not even trying to get your top-five pick involved in the offense as a rebuilding team is puzzling. It's either a concerning sign that the Cardinals already don't truly consider Harrison a building block at just 24, or they are doing a poor job prioritizing him. I'm not sure which is worse, but it's a disappointing development for someone who was expected to be the face of this rebuild just a few years ago.
Arizona needs to at least see if that talent and potential can be tapped into, hoping Harrison joins the long list of receivers to experience a Year 3 breakout. That starts with giving him the ball.
Hopefully, the grim trajectory changes in Week 3, when Harrison and the Cardinals head to San Francisco to take on another tough divisional rival.
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