Receivers Brian Thomas Jr. and Marvin Harrison Jr. have yet to return value on their first-round draft investments in 2024. The Jacksonville Jaguars made up for it by bringing in more weapons than Trevor Lawrence even knows what to do with.
You don't know whether it's going to be Thomas, Parker Washington, Jakobi Meyers, Travis Hunter, or even Brenton Strange who emerges as the game's X-Factor and Lawrence's top option on any given week. The result? A 13-4 record led by a 4,007-yard season from their signal-caller.
Fortunately, the Arizona Cardinals are on track to follow a similar blueprint.
Cardinals have enough weapons to make up for Marvin Harrison Jr.'s struggles
Ideally, Harrison has a patented third-year breakout and sheds draft-bust concerns. But even in the worst-case scenario, they have weapons to make up for it in the aggregate without taking a significant step back in their rebuild.
Trey McBride and rookie Jeremiyah Love could be two of the best in the league at their respective positions. Michael Wilson looks to build off a 1,000-yard breakout season. Underrated offseason signing Kendrick Bourne looks the part of a WR3 in what has been a strong training camp.
With Liam Coen's ability to implement an offense that utilizes all these weapons, the Jaguars' offense is challenging to gameplan against . The hope is Arizona found something similar in the new hiring of Mike LaFleur coming over from Sean McVay's system.
Cardinals just need to find their version of Trevor Lawrence
It's not like Jacksonville has an elite offensive line, meaning this should be an achievable formula for the Cardinals to replicate. Of course, the exception is that they still have to find their version of Lawrence.
Jacksonville landed its franchise quarterback out of Clemson with the No. 1 overall selection in 2021. Arizona is still waiting its turn.
Hopefully that comes in the 2027 draft with Texas' Arch Manning and Oregon's Dante Moore currently projected to be the top picks off the board. There's a realistic chance we see one in a Cardinals jersey next season, considering Vegas set this team's projected win total at 3.5.
If/when they land that franchise-altering prospect next summer, this Cardinals offense has a chance to be truly elite. They could even be in the playoff conversation sooner than expected. With an offensive infrastructure already in place similar to the Jaguars, all that's missing is a starting-caliber quarterback to hit the ground running.
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