He was supposed to be the chosen one. Now, he’s arguably not even fantasy relevant. Is it time to have a tough conversation about Marvin Harrison Jr.? It very well might be after a pair of dud weeks to open the 2026 campaign.
Should fantasy football managers be panicking about the Arizona Cardinals’ wide receiver and his underperformance?
Is it time to panic about Marvin Harrison Jr. in fantasy?
In 2024, Marvin Harrison Jr. was drafted with the No. 4 pick in the NFL Draft. At 6-foot-3 with impressive athleticism, the former Ohio State Buckeye posted an incredible 2,474 yards and 28 touchdowns on 144 catches over his final two collegiate seasons – with 12 scores in each of those years, he led the Big Ten in touchdown receptions twice and paced the conference in receiving yards as a junior. It seemed like he was a sure thing in his draft class and the future of the wide receiver position.
Through two seasons, he’s hardly lived up to his NFL lineage. Harrison has just one reception for 33 yards on four targets… over the course of his two appearances. He’s played at least 74% of snaps in both of those games, so it’s not like he’s seeing limited time on the field, too. He’s simply not commanding the ball.
The 24-year-old hasn’t been the epitome of consistency throughout his young career, to be fair. As a rookie, he averaged 11.6 FPPG with 62 catches for 885 yards and eight touchdowns on 116 total targets. Last year, he played just 12 games and averages 10.7 FPPG with 41 grabs for 608 yards and four scores on 73 looks. Hot-and-cold play has been an issue – he tallied double-digit fantasy points in six of his games last season but was also held to just two or fewer receptions with paltry outputs in another five outings.
The panic meter has been growing for some time now. Many diagnoses have been made from analysts and fans alike as they try and figure out what the deal is with Harrison’s lack of production. Some felt he wasn’t mentally locked in while some thought the issue was Drew Petzing’s offense (the former coordinator has since left Arizona). Is it possible that he’s just an outright bust instead?
The best receivers command targets – they’re earned, not given. Harrison saw three looks his direction in Week 1 but only had the ball thrown his way once in Week 2. His target share of just 6.3% falls fifth on the team at the moment behind Trey McBride, Michael Wilson, Kendrick Bourne and Jeremiyah Love. It hasn’t always been pretty, but the Cardinals’ offense did enough to upset the Los Angeles Chargers, though they fell to the Seattle Seahawks last week.
This attack will be tested and Jacoby Brissett has his limitations as a quarterback. Still, Arizona is 1-1 and head coach Mike LaFleur said that “everyone’s kinda got their role” when asked about designing touches for Harrison. As of now, he’s largely been a downfield threat with little other usage, ranking fourth in aDOT at 18.50 among all wideouts to run at least 50 routes so far this season. His 0.06 targets per route run ranks 59th out of the 59 qualifying players at the position.
Typically, I’d say to wait another week or two before hitting the panic button. At this rate, though, I’d be smashing that thing if I had any shares of Harrison in fantasy. It’s not all his own fault – some of this hinges on the role he’s playing in the offense – but this is pretty clearly a situation that’s not conducive to producing in fantasy football. Does that mean to cut him outright? Not just yet, but we’re approaching that point.
