Many fantasy managers flocked to draft Marvin Harrison Jr. in their leagues. After all, the elite receiving target was the solution for Arizona's woeful passing game with explosive quarterback Kyler Murray. But already after Week 1, we're seeing panic about whether Harrison's fantasy outlook was far too optimistic.
After looking at the all-22 to see whether Harrison was bad, the Cardinals ignored him, or the Buffalo Bills erased the rookie from the gameplan, we have an answer about Harrison's remaining 2024 fantasy season outlook.
Marvin Harrison Jr. Fantasy Outlook
It's terrifying to see a player who required a significant investment see only three targets, one reception, and four yards gained. The Cardinals' offense was out of sorts against Buffalo's new-look defense, throwing for only 162 yards on 31 attempts and James Conner rushing for 3.1 yards per carry.
The unit would've been abysmal if it wasn't for Murray's five rushes for 57 yards. Harrison's role in the offense was far from expected for a team without any other quality options at the receiver spot. While the clip below went viral as a coverage bust would've given Harrison an easy touchdown, this was far from what happened throughout the afternoon.
Reviewing the all-22 showed real concerns with what Arizona was prioritizing, as Harrison appeared to be the primary read only four or five times. Some of that is likely because Buffalo was consistently bracketing him with a safety over the top. The right move for Murray when seeing this pre-snap is to look elsewhere for more advantageous opportunities, so he obliged.
There are also some limitations to Arizona's offensive scheme. Even though I like what Drew Petzing has done with Arizona, they ranked dead last in fantasy points to outside receivers in 2023, so it's clearly not someone Petzing felt he had to remedy just because they added Harrison. Instead, the Cardinals took what the Bills gave them over the middle of the field.
Buffalo's defense is also geared toward taking away outside receivers. They allowed the fourth-fewest fantasy points to the position. Michael Wilson also only had one reception, so Arizona opted to play against Buffalo's strengths to find success.
The positive on this is we should see Petzing continue to mold the offense around their upcoming opponents' tendencies more than this being the norm. However, the lack of forced targets means Harrison is likely not in for a DeAndre Hopkins-type rookie season where he meets pre-draft expectations.
Instead, there's a real chance Harrison goes from absolute starter to more of a third receiver option, depending on matchups. I don't want to overreact to one week, but managers need to give a tight leash on Harrison and not be afraid to sit him in favor of better options.
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