Marvin Harrison Jr. Fantasy Impact
Every year, when the NFL Draft comes around, fantasy managers want to see the landing spots of the top-skilled players. The 2024 draft class features Marvin Harrison Jr., one of recent memory’s best wide receiver prospects. The Ohio State product was a surefire top-five pick and was selected fourth overall by the Arizona Cardinals. Harrison has all the makings of being a future superstar, but will he live up to the hype in his rookie year? Harrison Jr. has an average draft position of 18th on Fantasy Data, the 10th wide receiver off the board. Let us dive into Harrison Jr. and why he should have no problems returning value as a second-round pick.
First, every fantasy manager looks for a wide receiver who will receive a lot of targets. Harrison steps in as the Cardinals’ WR1 on the depth chart and should be Kyler Murray’s favorite target. The Cardinals traded last year’s WR1 Hollywood Brown this offseason, and 101 targets from 2023 go out the door with him. Brown played in 14 games and averaged 7.2 targets per game. That was with Murray only playing in the final eight games of the regular season. Harrison Jr. will get the whole season with Murray, which should only increase his target intake. The last time Murray played an entire season was in 2020; that year, he peppered his WR1 DeAndre Hopkins with 160 targets. As long as Murray is healthy, the Cardinals should have an excellent passing offense. It is not hard to envision Harrison getting 8+ targets per game and around 140 for the season. That should put him somewhere in the top 12 in the NFL regarding targets.
Harrison Jr.’s profile is incredibly enticing. He has all the traits of an elite NFL player. His final two college seasons saw him post 144 total catches for 2,474 yards and 29 total touchdowns, allowing him to be named consensus first-team All-American both years. According to PlayerProfiler, his college dominator score is 47.9%, in the 95th percentile of players. That calculates the combined percentage of total team receiving yards and total receiving touchdowns. In other words, Harrison Jr was as dominating as one can be in college football.
One aspect of the game that can hinder a rookie is his inability to run the entire route tree. Some rookies have specific skills that make them valuable on deep balls or in the quick game, but Harrison can do it all. He has no weaknesses as a route runner, which should allow him to get open on all three levels of the field. He will be the focal point of the passing game, and it should not take long for Harrison to establish himself as a WR1 in fantasy football.
It is important to note how much the Cardinals will likely have to pass the ball in 2024. Saying the Cardinals will have one of the worst defenses in football is not an overstatement. Last season, the Cardinals gave up 26.8 points per game, the second-worst in the NFL. Teams easily moved the ball against Arizona, and there is no reason to think that will not continue in 2024. From a personnel standpoint, the Cards did not make many improvements. The more points they give up, the more the Cardinals’ offense will have to throw the ball, resulting in more production for Harrison Jr.
The transition to the NFL is no longer difficult for elite prospects. Many highly drafted wide receivers dominate in their first NFL season. Last season, first-round pick Jordan Addison caught 70 passes for 911 yards and ten touchdowns. In 2022, Garrett Wilson caught 83 passes for 1,103 and four touchdowns. Despite great first-year production, neither player is as good a prospect as Harrison Jr. The term “can’t-miss prospect” may be thrown around too often, but that is the case with Harrison. He is everything you look for in a cornerstone fantasy wide receiver and should be selected in the second round of most drafts. If you are worried about choosing a rookie, do not be. Harrison is worth the hype and found himself in a good position for fantasy success in his first season.
