The Arizona Cardinals' wide receiver room was viewed as a strength heading into the season. They invested a top-five pick in Marvin Harrison Jr. and reached a three-year, $75 million extension with Michael Wilson following his 1,000-yard season. Arizona even had so much depth that they unconventionally brought a total of seven receivers onto the initial 53-man roster.
Unfortunately, none of those decisions are aging very well in the desert.
Cardinals' WR room turned from a strength to a weakness
The Cardinals already gave up on the Harrison era, shipping him to the Houston Texans for a second-round pick. Wilson isn't necessarily a bad contract, but he's having a down season. Those struggles have been exacerbated without Harrison in the picture to take the attention off Wilson, who doesn't seem good enough to be in the WR1 role he’s playing.
Meanwhile, the depth that left Arizona no choice but to keep seven receivers has disappeared entering Week 8. To put things into perspective, fifth-round rookie Reggie Virgil is currently listed as this team's WR3, alongside Wilson and Kendrick Bourne.
Jalen Brooks is on injured reserve after suffering a dislocated wrist, ending his season. Devin Duvernay and Simi Fehoko are more special teams-oriented rather than pass catchers, with the latter even winning Special Teams Player of the Week all the way back in Arizona's Week 1 upset over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Now the Cardinals must rebuild their WR room
At least Arizona has tight end Trey McBride and running back Jeremiyah Love to compensate. But it's a disappointing development, considering how much the Cardinals have invested in building up their group of wide receivers, only to have it come crumbling down by midseason.
There are a few potential trade candidates that they could acquire by the Nov. 10 deadline, such as Brian Thomas Jr. or Josh Downs. That could help replace Harrison in the offense, opening things back up for Wilson as a result.
However, with Arizona now sitting at 2-5 and already falling behind in the NFC West, it doesn't really make sense for them to be buyers. Instead, the Cardinals should consider selling veterans like Josh Sweat and turning them into future assets.
Hopefully those future draft picks will help build back up a wide receiver room that's quickly turned into a weakness. They still need to find their quarterback of the future, but it's also important to have a strong infrastructure to maximize that quarterback's chances of succeeding.
Between a shaky offensive line and a depleted group of receivers, we've already seen that negatively affect Jacoby Brissett this season. It's important for Arizona to replace Harrison and replenish their depth at receiver to put their signal caller, whoever it may be, in a better position to succeed.
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