Tag: Marvin Harrison Jr.

WATCH Marvin Harrison Jr. makes eye-popping catch at Cardinals training camp

Marvin Harrison Jr. showed off his untapped potential with this insane grab during the Arizona Cardinals training camp.

Marvin Harrison Jr. was seen as a generational talent when he walked onto the Ohio State campus, and he left as a first-round pick and one of the players with the highest potential in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Harrison Jr. was taken by the Arizona Cardinals with the No. 4 overall pick.

He will be catching passes this season from Kyler Murray, who has struggled with injuries over the past few years which is why the Cardinals ended up with a top-five pick.

With the Buckeyes back in the mix, NFL teams are also starting their training camp. Fans from all around are getting a glimpse of their favorite players. Harrison Jr. has rewarded those who ventured out to the Cardinals camp, making this insane catch over his defender.

Harrison Jr., who was the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year last season, ended with 1,211 receiving yards, 52 fewer than the season prior. He tied his 2022 number with 14 touchdowns.

At 6-foot-3, Harrison Jr.’s size and frame should make him a menace at the highest level in football. Expect a dominant rookie season for the star receiver.

LOOK: Brave kid taunts with ‘Go Blue’ at Marvin Harrison Jr. at Cardinals camp

Savage! #GoBlue

Maybe bravery isn’t the right word — Michigan football did manage to be 3-0 against elite wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. in his Ohio State career. But still.

The official NFL X (formerly Twitter) account appears to have realized that the tide has turned and that it’s a noteworthy moment in time. A young kid, seeking an autograph at the Arizona Cardinals camp managed to come across Harrison, and let him know which team is superior. Not only once, but twice.

You know, for posterity.

Given all of the constant chatter out of Columbus, especially given the result of the past three years, that’s gotta hurt.

Assuredly that had to hit Harrison right in the feels, and not in a good way. And he’ll definitely be reminded from fans of the largest alumni network in all of college what he failed to do during his time at Ohio State University.

You absolutely love to see it.

Trey McBride calls Marvin Harrison Jr. ‘elite’ and ‘freak of nature’

Trey McBride pumping up the Cardinals’ top rookie rather than tempering expectations.

Arizona Cardinals fans have lofty expectations for rookie receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., selected fourth overall in this year’s draft. He comes with a lot of hype. While some would like to pump the brakes, not even his teammates are doing that.

Tight end Trey McBride was a guest on “The Adam Schefter Podcast” and fed the hype about Harrison.

“This guy is elite,” he said. “He’s a freak of nature.”

Harrison hasn’t played a single down yet and McBride is already pumping him up.

“It’s one of those things where a guy of his stature shouldn’t be able to move the way he moves, shouldn’t be as fast as he is and shouldn’t be able to catch the way he does,” McBride explained. “Everything he does is elite. The hype that was around him in college, he definitely lived up to the hype. He’s a great person, a great player. I’m excited to see the connection he and Kyler have in training camp.”

McBride added the crisp routes Harrison runs, how he gets open and how he doesn’t drop the ball.

He called 50-50 balls “70-30 for us” with Harrison.

It’s hard not to get excited about Harrison. His production was elite at Ohio State. He has freakish physical traits. He will have all the opportunities to get the ball.

It’s going to be fun to watch and see what he does.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

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2024 Schedule Swings: Receivers

Which receiver gets a far easier schedule for 2024? Who experiences the worst drop in schedule strength?

The schedule strength for receivers is typically the least accurate compared to running backs and quarterbacks because two to four wideouts and a tight end are regularly used per team, and each varies in how they mix them.

That means comparing the schedule strength between 2023 and 2024 is also harder to apply to individual players. Only the extremes are likely to matter.

The average fantasy points allowed by defenses to receivers last year were applied to each offense’s schedule to determine their true schedule strength of last year and the same values are applied to their 2024 schedule. This includes considering both home and away venues separately for each defense.

The resulting fantasy point advantages are compared between years and the difference is their “swing points.”  The higher the Swing Points, the better their schedule is compared to last year. 

This analysis is very close to that for the quarterbacks, but a few differences stem from relying on running backs as receivers on some teams, as that skews the pass distribution.

See Also: Quarterbacks | Running Backs 

Best schedule swings

Drake London, Kyle Pitts (ATL) – This is all good news for a franchise that was among the worst in passing for the last couple of seasons. Refreshing with Kirk Cousins, a new pass-intensive scheme and now the most improved schedule from 2023 and it all is looking up for the Falcons.

Diontae Johnson, Adam Thielen (CAR) – Bryce Young was the first player drafted in 2023, but he had little help in any direction for a franchise that owned a minimal amount of passing weapons, a one-year offensive scheme that flopped and a bad schedule. A new set of coaches, upgrades with Diontae Johnson and Xavier Legette, and a vastly upgraded schedule should all make a positive difference and get the Panthers’ passing offense on track.

DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze (CHI) – The Bears already have an embarrassment of riches with receivers DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, and Cole Kmet. They drafted the top quarterback in the 2024 class and get a nice improvement in schedule. The only downside here is trying to feed all those options.

Amon-Ra St. Brown, Sam LaPorta (DET) – The Lions already had one of the best passing offenses and now enjoy a solid rise in outlook with the No. 3 best schedule for receivers. With the offense already dedicated to piling up the receptions for St. Brown and LaPorta, the schedule only serves to make them even more reliable.

Amari Cooper, Jerry Jeudy, David Njoku (CLE) – The Browns offense needed a break and 2024 should allow the receivers to meet their potential with Deshaun Watson healthy and well-versed in the offense and the schedule finally well above average.

Marvin Harrison Jr., Trey McBride (ARI) – The rookie Harrison and McBride already look like locks for a high volume of targets and they get a healthy Kyler Murray back. Throw in one of the top schedules after only average in 2023, and the needle is pointing up for the Arizona receivers this year.

About the same schedule strength

The bad news is that the Jaguars, Bengals, Dolphins, and Broncos all repeat their ultra-tough schedule strengths from 2023. Can they remain better than their schedule?

Worst schedule swings

Malik Nabers, Wan’Dale Robinson (NYG) – The Giants were already challenged with yet another shaky year of Daniel Jones and now the schedule is working against them. It is enough to drop Nabers another tick and hope he can survive a tough rookie campaign.

Quentin Johnson, Joshua Palmer (LAC) – The Chargers already swapped out coaches and dedicate their offense to running the ball more. And they stripped out all veteran talent from the wideouts. And they rely on what appears to be one of the weakest receiver units in the NFL. And now their receivers get to go against the worst schedule. Justin Herbert is an elite quarterback, but everything with the 2023 Chargers screams that a down year is about to happen.

Marquise Brown, Rashee Rice, Travis Kelce (KC) – This is less worrisome with an upgraded set of receivers and Patrick Mahomes playing in the same pass-happy scheme. If any team can weather a bad schedule swing, it is the Chiefs.

Mike Evans, Chris Godwin (TB) – The Buccaneers take a dive down from their previous No. 5 schedule strength for receivers but their scheme has a huge portion of the targets funnel through Evans and Godwin. They may not equal last year, but shouldn’t fall far thanks to volume alone.

Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp (LAR) – Nacua blew up with a historic rookie season and Kupp is always dangerous weapon when healthy.  This slide doesn’t help but the duo is one of the best in the league. They should still deliver even with the increased competition.

Cardinals could have 4 rookie starters in 2024

The Cardinals added playmakers on both sides of the football in the 2024 NFL draft.

Last season the Arizona Cardinals finished 4-13 due in large part because quarterback Kyler Murray missed nine games. The Cardinals’ offense was stuck in neutral without any real playmakers.

But with Murray back, Arizona knew there was an opportunity to add some real punch to the offense via the 2024 NFL draft. This is exactly what they did with the addition of wide receiver Marvin Harrison J. and running back Trey Benson.

Defensively, Arizona was in need of guys to draw attention from opposing offenses. Getting defensive end Darius Robinson gives them a disruptor who can line up inside and outside. meanwhile, cornerback Max Melton is a confident, sticky boundary cornerback.

Looking over the Cardinals depth chart projection for the coming season, Harrison, Robinson and Melton as practically locks to start.

We also think Benson will at worst split carries with running back James Conner but Benson’s explosion is going to make it impossible to keep him off the field.

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Former Ohio State quarterback catches stray on Hard Knocks

Former Ohio State quarterback catches stray on Hard Knocks #GoBucks

By now every football fan has at least seen a clip of the HBO series, “Hard Knocks,” and this current season of the show is following the New York Giants during the offseason. These shows provide fans some unique insight into the process of constructing a roster in the NFL.

The most recent episode released on Tuesday featured the Giants conducting pre-draft interviews. Mike Groh, the receivers coach for the Giants was leading the interview with Marvin Harrison Jr., and they were going over his performance against Wisconsin. It was pretty standard stuff, but Groh felt the needs to ask Harrison about an underthrown ball and said “I mean that’s a s— throw, right?”

In classic Harrison fashion, he took the high road and took the blame himself saying “I can make the play still,” and “I will never say anything to the quarterback — always blame it on myself.”

This clip is going viral online, but in all honestly, Kyle McCord shouldn’t feel attacked. A huge portion of these interviews is getting to know the prospect and the comments were clearly more to test Harrison and his reaction more than commentary on McCord’s ability.

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Josh Keatley on X.

Marvin Harrison Jr. shrugged off the Giants’ extremely obvious QB bait on Hard Knocks

Marvin Harrison Jr. saw the Giants’ trap from a mile away.

One of the more illuminating parts of the New York Giants’ offseason turn with Hard Knocks has been the internal draft process. Namely, how a team like the Giants tries to test (and trap) top draft prospects.

We saw it with Jayden Daniels failing to correctly recite a play back to Brian Daboll, while Drake Maye seemingly passed with flying colors under similar circumstances. Fittingly, now we have an inside look at how the Giants tried to bait now-Arizona Cardinals receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. into throwing his Ohio State quarterback under the bus.

The NFL combine sequence features Harrison Jr. sitting with members of the Giants’ brass and offensive coaching staff. New York receivers coach Mike Groh plays an Ohio State clip in which Kyle McCord throws a poor pass to Harrison. Groh tries to get Harrison Jr. to insult McCord’s passing ability, but the young receiver sees right through the trap.

He keeps repeating how he could’ve made a play on the ball and how he’ll never tell a quarterback anything about how they let him down. An expert maneuver:

The great thing about this clip is that it’s likely exactly who Harrison Jr. is, regardless.

Sure, he was probably coached up to make himself seem as humble and put-together as possible in all draft interviews. But everything about the receiver’s pre-draft evaluation process already said Harrison would be someone who punched in, put in an honest day’s work, and then punched out. The Giants knew this, too, but they had to test him anyway.

Congratulations to the Cardinals for drafting a likely grand slam of a playmaker.

Cardinals’ under-25 talent shoots into top 10 of NFL

In ESPN’s rankings of the under-25 talent on all 32 NFL teams, the Cardinals are No. 6 after being No. 28 a year ago.

In one year, the Arizona Cardinals went from having not much promising young talent to have one of the best young group of players in the NFL.

ESPN’s Aaron Schatz ranked all 32 teams in terms of their under-25 talent.

After ranking 28th entering the 2023 season, they rocketed into the top 10 at No. 6 in the league.

They have a trio of blue-chip youngsters with rookie receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., second-year tackle Paris Johnson Jr. and second-year receiver Michael Wilson.

Additionally, tight end Trey McBride is 24 years old and coming off a franchise record-setting season. They also drafted 22-year old defensive lineman Darius Robinson and they were even given points for cornerbacks Max Melton and Elijah Jones, drafted in the second and third rounds this year.

Second-year linebacker BJ Ojulari had four sacks as a rookie and is poised for a bigger role and more production in 2024.

Add in young cornerbacks Garrett Williams, Kei’Trel Clark and Starling Thomas, and you have what looks like a team poised to take big steps forward in the years to come.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

Could two Cardinals first-year players make the NFL All-Rookie team?

NFL.com’s Chad Reuter not only projects that Marvin Harrison Jr. will make the team, he also believes RB Trey Benson will make it.

Chad Reuter of NFL.com recently projected that two Arizona Cardinals players will be on the league’s All-Rookie team in 2024. One, wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., is obvious.

Some might be surprised by the other one, but then again, Trey Benson was the second running back selected in April’s draft and someone has to be on the All-Rookie team.

Jonathon Brooks of Texas was the first runner chosen and was picked by the Carolina Panthers with the 46th overall choice, 20 slots before Benson.

The question is how Benson will be utilized in the offense.

Reuter wrote, “Cardinals RB James Conner ran for 1,000-plus yards last year for the first time in his career, but remember how productive Bijan Robinson was for the Falcons as a rookie in 2023 after his Falcons teammate Tyler Allgeier had a 1,000-yard season in 2022? I think we could see a similar situation play out in Arizona, with Benson’s explosiveness in the open field resulting in big plays.”

While the latter might very well be true, it’s a stretch to mention Allgeier in the same breath as Conner.

Of course, Jeremy Bissett of NFL Draft Scout went a tad farther than Reuter in his assessment of Benson.

Bissett wrote, “If you allow for the cross-sport analogy, Benson joins an Arizona Cardinals team in definite need of a home-run hitter coming out of the backfield. With veteran James Conner taking on more of a short-yardage back role, Benson by season’s end could be competing with Marvin Harrison Jr. for (Offensive) Rookie of the Year honors. Yep, I did write that. Check back in January.”

Jeremy, we definitely will.

For the record, here’s what Reuter wrote about Harrison: “In a pivotal season for Kyler Murray, he’ll need to lean on Harrison early and often. Not every catch will be a big downfield play — the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Marvin Harrison will also make third-down grabs over the middle and on the sideline to keep the chains moving. While it won’t show up on the stat sheet, Harrison’s presence could also open space for running backs Trey Benson and James Conner, as well as the Cardinals’ other receivers.”

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

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Fantasy football outlook: Arizona Cardinals WR preview

A prized rookie headlines an unheralded receiving corps in the desert.

The Arizona Cardinals‘ wide receivers room has been a turnstile in recent years. Last year’s top two wide receivers both left – Marquise Brown (free agency) and Rondale Moore (trade). Entering 2024, the Cardinals have a new No. 1 wide receiver in fourth overall draft pick Marvin Harrison Jr., who is already being anointed as the ”next big thing” in Arizona.

Harrison joins a pair of in-house returnees – Michael Wilson and Greg Dortch. Arizona added a pair of veterans in free agency with low-investment signings of Zay Jones and Zach Pascal. There are some questions how the depth charter will play out for WR2 through WR5, but there’s no question that Harrison is the go-to guy.