Marvin

Harrison Jr.

Harrison’s eighth touchdown of the season was his first in five weeks. The five-catch outing was his second straight, while he heads into the offseason having cleared 60 yards in back-to-back games for the first time since Weeks 2 and 3. His 12-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter featured one of his crisper routes of the year. MHJ’s lack of a consistent connection with Kyler Murray will go down as the story of his up-and-down rookie campaign, but the 22-year-old was far from a bust. He was also far from a can’t miss star, with his yards per route run entering Week 18 at a less than stellar 1.63. Increased efficiency and target commanding will be a must for 2025, but that has as much to do with Murray as Harrison. MHJ still has extreme youth — he doesn’t turn 23 until August — on his side, but he has lost his claim to being the top wideout in the 2024 draft class. He can still get it back, but that is no longer the most likely outcome. Neither an obvious buy nor sell in dynasty leagues, Harrison is a player where we simply need more data points.

The six catches are a season high for Harrison. The fourth-overall selection was able to work on the sidelines, and he and Kyle Murray seemed to be on the same page for the first time a while, if not all year. Fantasy managers who drafted Harrison with a high pick have the right to wonder why this couldn’t have happened more often, and managers who may be considering a draft pick on him for 2025 were given a reminder of what the future could hold. His final game of his rookie campaign will be against the 49ers in Week 18.

“We’ve gotta get better,” Murray said. “It’s not where I want to be, it’s not where this team needs it to be.” Fantasy football heads everywhere are nodding their heads reading this. Harrison hasn’t cleared 60 yards since October and Murray has completed only 18-of-34 targets to Harrison in the last month of games. Perhaps this quote points to added attention for fixing the connection in these last two games, perhaps not. What is clear is that starting Harrison is a risk in Week 17.

It wasn’t a great day for the No. 4 overall pick, as he lost a few jump balls and drew constructive criticism from FOX analyst Mark Schlereth for not coming out of his breaks properly. MHJ has now been held below 50 yards receiving in three straight games and 4-of-5. He hasn’t hit 70 since before Halloween. He’s hanging around the WR30-36 range, but if you have endured Harrison’s ongoing struggles, there’s a chance he could end up on your Week 17 bench.

Harrison did all of his damage in the first half. The Cardinals pulled away after halftime and took the air out of the football resulting in one second-half target for the No. 4 overall pick. Marv last topped 60 yards in Week 8. The Cardinals use Harrison to clear out space for Trey McBride more than they scheme up looks Harrison himself, resulting in a rollercoaster experience for his fantasy backers. He gets a great matchup with a weak Carolina secondary next week, giving fantasy managers a reason to treat him as a WR3 for one more week.

Harrison was quiet until the second half, and looked to be interfered with on an end zone target in the fourth quarter. The rookie was well behind Trey McBride in targets (14) and again saw no easy looks from Kyler Murray. Harrison’s disappointing rookie campaign includes games with less than 60 receiving yards in eight of his past nine. He’ll look to take advantage of a solid matchup against the Patriots in Week 15, and should be considered a top-30 fantasy option.

It’s a new career high in targets for Harrison. Sunday marked only his third game of the season with more than seven looks from Kyler Murray. Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said before the game that the team would make a concerted effort to get Harrison the ball, and though it was a slow start — MHJ had just four targets at the end of the third quarter — the Arizona passing offense revolved around him and Trey McBride, who also had a dozen targets. Murray found Harrison for a 15-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter before the Cardinals lost the lead to Minnesota. Harrison will be a top-30 fantasy play next week against the Seahawks. Harrison had 47 yards in Week 12 against Seattle.

Harrison was second on the Cardinals in targets, with six on the day. He is the top wideout on the team, though that did not convert to much on a day where the Cardinals only totaled a pair of field goals. Harrison nearly made a highlight-reel toe-tap touchdown catch in the first half, but failed to get both feet down. Outside of that, Kyler Murray found him for first down conversions on occasion and not much else. Harrison is a touchdown-dependent fantasy receiver, putting him in the WR3/4 mix for Week 13.

Harrison looked great in this one, winning with physicality and showing up when Kyler Murray needed him. The two connected on a beautiful end zone pass targeted over Harrison’s right shoulder. The talented rookie secured the target despite intermittently hand-fighting with Jets CB D.J. Reed in the process. Harrison is on bye in Week 11.

Harrison’s biggest impact on the game occurred in the second quarter when UDFA CB Reddy Steward punched the ball out of Harrison’s hands. Game script then rendered Harrison obsolete, pushing the volatile rookie wide receiver out of OC Drew Petzing’s mind. Harrison is a WR4 against the Jets in Week 10.