Arizona Cardinals first-round wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., had a good rookie season in 2024, if not a great one.
That’s the general consensus about the No. 4 overall pick from Ohio State. He was solid, if not spectacular.
That’s OK, because careers shouldn’t be defined by a rookie season.
Harrison should have a long, productive career. Maybe even spectacular. His college career projects to possible NFL excellence. He should have many, many receptions for many yards and touchdown catches.
With the 2025 NFL Draft a little more than a week away, The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner redrafted the 2024 first round. In a reassessment of rookie seasons, Harrison was dropped from his No. 4 draft position to No. 9, the position held by the Chicago Bears.
LSU’s Malik Nabers redrafted to Cardinals
The Athletic’s assessment of Harrison: “Harrison did not have a bad season, to be clear — it just wasn’t as ridiculous as what Nabers and [Brian] Thomas produced.
“Harrison still finished as Arizona’s leading [wide] receiver [62 catches, 885 yards, eight TDs] in an otherwise outstanding rookie season.”
Tight end Trey McBride led the Cardinals with 111 receptions, perhaps cutting into Harrison’s statistics.
The Athletic moved LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers into the Cardinals’ No. 4 position. Nabers was drafted No. 6 by the Giants.
Nabers was considered one of the Giants’ few bright spots. He did not enjoy the luxury of having either Phil Simms or Eli Manning under center. Daniel Jones lasted 10 games before being released. Tommy DeVito was a good story, if not a top-notch NFL quarterback. Drew Lock played eight games as the Giants finished 3-14.
Still, Nabers set an NFL rookie record with 109 catches, and had 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns in 15 games.
Baumgardner on Nabers: “We wrote [many times] last winter about how some NFL scouts believed Nabers was a better prospect than Harrison. At least for one season, those scouts were correct.”
Another wide receiver was redrafted ahead of Harrison: LSU wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., at No. 8 to the Falcons. Thomas was drafted No. 23 by the Jaguars. Thomas had 87 receptions for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns.