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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Jess Root

Marvin Harrison Jr.’s rookie season was one of best in Cardinals history

Arizona Cardinals receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. entered the 2024 season with extremely high expectations as the No. 4 overall pick. With other rookie receivers in recent years having monster seasons, many believed and expected that Harrison should, too. He should catch 90-plus passes for 1,100 or 1,200 yards.

That didn’t happen. He finished his rookie campaign with 62 receptions for 885 yards and eight touchdowns.

The truth is that was one of the best rookie seasons the Cardinals have ever gotten from a receiver.

His 62 receptions are second in franchise history for rookie catches, trailing only Anquan Boldin’s 101-catch rookie season in 2003.

His 885 yards are also the second-most receiving yards by a rookie, trailing Boldin’s 1,377.

He beat out Frank Sanders, who had 883 in 1995.

Harrison’s eight touchdown catches as a rookie tied the franchise rookie record, one he shares with the two best receivers in franchise history — Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald.

His rookie season was better Fitzgerald’s, having more catches and receiving yards and the same number of touchdowns.

Fitzgerald had 58 receptions for 780 yards and eight touchdowns in 2004.

Boldin’s performance came in a season when the Cardinals had nobody else doing much offensively. The second-leading receiver on that team was tight end Freddie Jones, who had 55 catches for 517 yards. They did not have a 1,000-yard rusher that season.

Harrison had Trey McBride as a teammate, who caught 111 passes for 1,146 yards. James Conner rushed for 1,094 yards. Michael Wilson had 47 receptions for 548 yards.

So comparing his season to Boldin’s doesn’t seem fair.

Comparing him to Fitzgerald’s rookie season is apt. Fitz came in as a rookie in 2004 with Boldin as a teammate. Boldin, who played in only 10 games that season, had over 600 yards and so did Bryant Johnson. Emmitt Smith had over 900 rushing yards.

So Harrison had better numbers than Fitzgerald with teammates who performed better.

And Harrison’s rookie season is comparable to his Hall of Fame father’s rookie year in 1996. Marvin Harrison Sr. had 64 catches for 836 yards and eight touchdowns.

Junior had six fewer catches than his father, but had almost 50 more yards and equaled him in touchdowns.

Head coach Jonathan Gannon was not disappointed in Harrison at all and considers him a “premier player.”

“I thought he had a good year,” Gannon said on Monday. “Coming in with the expectations that typically only get put on quarterbacks in the top three, I understand the expectation. He was a premier player for us. He’s going to continue to be a premier player for us and he hasn’t hit his ceiling yet. I look forward to the offseason that he’s about to go through. I look forward to him getting back in the building, playing to the level that I want him to play, that you guys want him to play and that he wants to play most importantly. I know he is going to get there.”

Fitzgerald had a league-high 103 catches in his second season with over 1,400 yards.

We can perhaps eye those sort of numbers for Harrison in 2025.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on SpotifyYouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

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