Not only is Marvin Harrison Jr. not producing, but he's also not even a focal point of this Arizona Cardinals offense.
He seemingly fell out of the game plan entirely in the Cardinals' 31-7 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. A goose egg on just one target. In a game where Arizona frequently struggled to move the chains against what Mike LaFleur called the best defense in the league entering the matchup.
These are the exact matchups against elite defenses where you need your stars to step up and make plays to ease the burden. Instead, Harrison was out there doing cardio yet again.
It's similarly underwhelming production to their Week 1 win, when he recorded just one catch for 33 yards. But the fact that the Cardinals lost badly in Week 2 raises far more red flags, as they simply couldn't rely on Harrison to produce offense.
Cardinals could've picked any other "Gambo 5"
Given how well some of these other draft options in that 2024 class have performed -- particularly those within the "Gambo 5" like Malik Nabers, Joe Alt, and Dallas Turner -- the opportunity cost of Arizona missing on this Harrison pick continues to increase.
John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Phoenix has an annual prediction of who the Cardinals will land in the draft, listing five potential names. Here were the "Gambo 5" for the Cardinals' 2024 NFL Draft:
- Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State
- Malik Nabers, WR, LSU
- Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame
- Rome Odunze, WR, Washington
- Dallas Turner, edge rusher, Alabama
At the time, Gambadoro said there was "at least a 50-50 chance the Cardinals will not be picking at No. 4" as they could make a trade. While that added another layer of complexity into the predictions, Gambo still did a great job of predicting potential draft targets for Arizona.
Malik Nabers, Joe Alt, and Rome Odunze were all ultimately selected inside the top ten, with Dallas Turner falling to the Minnesota Vikings at No. 17 (via Jacksonville).
Unfortunately, the gap between Harrison and the other draft options continues to widen. Alt has already emerged as one of the league's premier offensive linemen with the Los Angeles Chargers. Nabers was a star with the New York Giants before his ACL tear and now looks to continue that ascent in a healthy Year 3. Even with questions surrounding whether Rome Odunze is a true WR1 for Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears, he's still more reliable than Harrison.
Worse, Minnesota Vikings edge rusher Dallas Turner just had a standout defensive performance, playing a key part in the Vikings' defense limiting the Bears to just three points one week after dropping 59 on the Carolina Panthers' head. Turner finished with 11 pressures, 2 sacks, 2 QB hits, 7 hurries, and 4 run stops, per PFF. The laughable PFF grade of 48.8, including a 51.3 pass-rush grade, doesn't accurately tell the story in this one -- Turner was dominant.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals are still left to wonder what they have in their steep No. 4 overall draft investment. Their recent Week 2 blowout loss to the Seahawks unfortunately served as the latest reminder of how bad that situation currently looks for Arizona.
This was supposed to be a franchise-altering pick for the Cardinals' rebuild. And while other teams around the league benefit from their respective picks in that strong first round, Arizona is left to wonder whether they can even look Harrison Jr.'s way.
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