Those hoping Marvin Harrison Jr. would join the list of wide receivers with patented third-year breakouts must have been disappointed by that Week 1 performance. The Arizona Cardinals defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 26-14 on the road, which was Week 1's biggest upset. That was despite the underwhelming performance from their former No. 4 overall pick in 2024.
If you told me Jacoby Brissett led all quarterbacks in PFF rating for Week 1, and the Cardinals went on to beat the Chargers, I'd assume Harrison at least contributed in some meaningful way. That surprisingly wasn't the case in this one, as Brissett hardly even looked his way.
Cardinals spread the ball under Mike LaFleur
Harrison brought in just one of his three targets, good for a 33-yard gain. He was a nonfactor outside of that, falling behind Trey McBride (13 targets), Kendrick Bourne (8), Michael Wilson (7), and even running back Jeremiyah Love (4) in the pecking order.
While there's plenty to be excited about regarding Arizona's surprising Week 1 win, head coach Mike LaFleur warns we shouldn't overreact to the target distribution.
"I wouldn't look too much into the targets and all that kind of stuff," LaFleur said. "It was just kind of how the game unfolded. We're always gonna do what we think is best in terms of putting our players in position to be successful; that makes sense against the coverages and scheme that we're going against."
It's too early to hit the panic button on Marvin Harrison Jr.
Harrison should still be plenty involved in this passing attack going forward, potentially even still as this team's WR1 over the course of the season. We say that because the top pass-catcher next to McBride could rotate weekly among Bourne, Wilson, and Harrison.
That's a strength, not a weakness of this Cardinals roster. Elite offenses across the league are multi-dimensional, with different playmakers capable of stepping up depending on the matchup, making them far harder to game plan and defend. While they still need to do a better job executing in the red zone, we saw flashes of the elite offense the Cardinals can eventually become.
Harrison may not be the WR1 every week, but he should still be able to put together the best season of his young career in Year 3. It's fun to overreact to the win, but let's try to be patient with Harrison's three targets as this new-look offense continues to sort itself out.
His next opportunity to get more involved comes Sunday, September 20. However, that won't be an easy feat as the Cardinals take on their home opener against the defending champion Seattle Seahawks and their stout secondary.
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