Coming into the 2024 NFL Draft, Marvin Harrison Jr. was widely considered one of the best wide receiver prospects in recent memory. With elite size (6-foot-3, 209 pounds), great speed and an incredible skill set -- owing to both his genes as the son of Colts legend Marvin Harrison and his own work ethic -- Harrison was considered a slam-dunk top selection in his class.
He ended up coming off the board at No. 4 overall, with the Cardinals selecting him after the top three quarterbacks went with the first three picks, and it's safe to say that his new teammates are wildly impressed with what they've seen from him so far. Tight end Trey McBride, who was the team's top passing game option a year ago, practically gushed about Harrison during an appearance on "The Adam Schefter Podcast."
"This guy is elite. He's a freak of nature," McBride said." 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, shouldn't be able to catch the ball the way he does. Everything he does is elite."
Harrison is coming off a two-year run at Ohio State during which he caught 77 passes for 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns as a sophomore, then followed that up with a 67-catch, 1,211-yard, 14-score campaign. With that type of production, he was obviously billed as someone who could instantly help his NFL team, and McBride feels like he's matched that projection.
"The hype that was around him in college, he's definitely lived up to the hype," the tight end said. "He's a great person, a great player and I'm excited to see the connection him and Kyler [Murray] have come training camp."
As for what, exactly, makes Harrison such a rare talent, McBride got into some specifics.
"The guy just runs very crisp routes. He gets open. He doesn't drop a ball," he said. "He's one of those guys who, you throw it up to him and it's no 50-50 for him; it's like a 70-30 for us. He's always gonna win that 50-50 battle."
That's basically a prototype No. 1 wide receiver, which is exactly what pretty much everyone around the NFL expects Harrison to eventually be, perhaps as soon as this season. And if he, Murray, McBride, second-year wideout Michael Wilson and the rest of the Arizona passing game can get things going this season, the Cards have a chance to take a significant step forward.
