Marvin Harrison Jr. had an average rookie season, nothing close to what was expected from the No. 4 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Arizona Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon told Adam Schein on Wednesday on SiriusXM's Mad Dog Sports Radio that he expects a Year 2 leap from his No. 1 receiver.
"When the staff is in place, the jump from Year 1 to Year 2, I think that's where guys make a huge jump," Gannon said. "This guy played unbelievable ball for us, but if you talk to him, he'd be the first to tell you, like, 'I need to get better at these couple things,' and, man, he has went to work on them. He has went to work on them. He looks awesome out there right now. I'm really excited to see where his game goes."
In 2024, Harrison earned 62 catches on 116 targets for 885 yards with eight touchdowns. He finished fifth among rookies in receiving yards, well behind Brian Thomas Jr. (1,282), Malik Nabers (1,204), tight end Brock Bowers (1,194) and Ladd McConkey (1,149).
Becoming more efficient is step one for Harrison to make strides in Year 2. For comparison, McConkey generated 264 more yards on four fewer targets than Harrison Jr., with 20 additional catches.
For long stretches, Harrison's chemistry with quarterback Kyler Murray seemed off, with the two rarely getting on the same page -- something the QB has admitted they're already working to correct. The wideout's production ebbed and flowed. He generated three games over the 90-yard receiving mark (Week 2, 8 and 17) while going for fewer than 40 yards seven times. Harrison noticeably bulked up this offseason, which should help against bully-ball corners.
Gannon believes Harrison employs the mentality and disposition to correct what went wrong during his rookie season.
"He came up to me -- I normally meet with guys about their developmental plan when we're done with the year -- when I had my meeting with him, he came up to me and he handed me a piece of paper," Gannon said. "It wasn't me handing him a piece of paper. But we knew that. The guy's a ready-made pro. He does all the right things. He was here the whole offseason. He skipped out one week, he went and trained with a bunch of different receivers, but he was here the whole offseason. I think he added a little bit of muscle mass. He looks a little bit bigger. All his numbers, his metrics are all better than when we got him.
"I'm not gonna speak truth into the universe, but just wait until this guy plays this year."
The Cards didn't add a significant running mate for Harrison the offseason -- particularly a receiver who would threaten deep to open up the intermediate routes -- counting on the former Buckeye's Year 2 ascent to cover the difference in the offense from 2024 to 2025.
