Marvin Harrison Jr. must match another young star to justify massive hype
By Brandon Ray
Every couple of years in the NFL Draft, there are highly talented wide receivers that are projected as immediate impactful players. With the way that the NFL has transitioned to a pass heavy league, teams are finding solid receivers beyond the first round. However, there is always atleast one or two receivers who come out of college and are destined to make a splash no matter what NFL team drafts them.
This past NFL Draft, the two biggest names at wide receiver coming out of college were Marvin Harrison Jr. and Malik Nabers. The Arizona Cardinals drafted Harrison with the 4th overall pick and Nabers was drafted by the New York Giants two picks later. Both receivers are walking into two totally different situations. Harrison Jr. goes into the best possible situation with Kyler Murray throwing the ball to him and a coaching staff that has a culture change for the better. When it comes to Nabers, the Giants have a massive problem at quarterback with Daniel Jones and no other big weapons on the offense. While these two players have similar talents, Harrison Jr. is in a much better situation to start off his career.
With the best setup possible for his first season, Harrison Jr. has a great amount of pressure and hype of be successful right from the start.
Does Marvin Harrison Jr. need to live up to a “Ja’Marr Chase rookie-like” season in 2024?
There are a good amount of similarities between Marvin Harrison Jr. and Ja’Marr Chase to start their young careers. They were both drafted in the top five of their respective drafts and both got a quarterback who is coming off a torn ACL but has shown promise. The Cincinnati Bengals drafted Chase over Penei Sewell which was a bold move considering the fact that the Bengals had one of the worst offensive lines protecting Joe Burrow, but it didn’t seem to matter.
In Chase’s rookie season, he had 81 receptions for 1,455 yards and 13 touchdowns. He was named the Offensive Rookie of the Year and a Second-Team All Pro player, as well as helped the Bengals reach the Super Bowl that included winning playoff games against the Las Vegas Raiders, Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs.
No one expects the Cardinals to make a run at the Super Bowl but anything is possible especially with the NFC not being as dominant as the AFC. However, there is pressure for Harrison Jr. to produce immediately and make Arizona a respectable team beyond this upcoming season. While he cannot control how the Cardinals defense performs, Harrison Jr. will need to live up to the hype to be considered a top receiver in the league as he grows in his NFL career.