The Arizona Cardinals used the No. 4 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on star wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. out of Ohio State University. Harrison has shown some flashes of potential but has been underwhelming this year, so the team seems ready to move on from him. With Harrison not expected to play this week with a trade imminent, the door is open for veteran receiver Kendrick Bourne to step into a larger role. Bourne can be a solid fantasy football sleeper and emergency starter if you need help at wide receiver in Week 5.
Let’s dive in and examine the latest on Harrison’s status and what to expect from Bourne in Week 5 and going forward.
Why Kendrick Bourne makes sense as a waiver wire pickup
Marvin Harrison Jr. Trade Update
On Saturday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Harrison is on the move.
Both teams prefer to keep the destination quiet until after Sunday’s game. Most of the buzz has been around a trade to Houston, which would reunite Harrison with his college QB C.J. Stroud. Other teams that have gotten some buzz on the internet as possible destinations include the Chiefs, Colts, Raiders and Patriots. According to other reports, the Eagles and Broncos are not among the teams interested in Harrison.
Even though the trade details won’t come out until Monday, when the “mystery team” will be revealed, the Cardinals are planning on holding Harrison out of Sunday’s game against the Lions to avoid injury.
Harrison hasn’t been very productive, with five catches on 12 targets for 85 yards and a touchdown this season. However, he did play the second-most snaps on the team at wide receiver. He’s played 74% of snaps in Arizona’s four games this season, with at least 74% of snaps in every game except last week’s against the Giants.
Kendrick Bourne’s Opportunity
Bourne has also played plenty of snaps this season, but his targets have been sporadic. He started the season hot with eight catches on eight targets for 75 yards against the Chargers, but he has only had four catches on six targets in three games since then, for a total of 33 receiving yards. Last week against the Giants, Bourne played 64% of snaps against the Giants but he did not get a single target.
The Cardinals’ offense clearly relies very heavily on WR Michael Wilson and TE Trey McBride getting a very heavy volume of targets. However, Bourne could carve out a role as well with Harrison no longer in the picture. There is a chance that a receiver comes back in the trade, but if not, Bourne should climb the hierarchy and become the third target in the offense. As teams focus on shutting down Wilson, it could be Bourne who takes advantage of favorable matchups as he did in Week 1.
Speaking of favorable matchups, the Cardinals host the Lions this week, who have been the best matchup in the NFL for wide receivers this season. Opposing receivers have five touchdowns in four games against the Lions with a massive average of 207.75 receiving yards per game. Receivers have preyed on the Lions’ defensive backfield all year, and Bourne will look to grab a piece of the production this week.
More specifically, the Lions have allowed the most schedule-adjusted fantasy points per game to the slot receiver of any team, and Bourne has run almost 70% of his routes from that spot in the formation. He probably won’t move into Harrison’s spot on the outside, but he could get increased attention at his current spot on the inside, which has been a great spot to produce against the Lions this year.
For this week’s DFS contests like the NFL $2.75M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st] on DraftKings, Bourne is an extreme bargain with a salary of only $3,400. He can be a great fantasy football sleeper, as I highlighted earlier today, and if he’s available on your season-long league’s waiver wire, he can be a last-minute addition that brings a very high ceiling in a smash matchup. He will have value beyond this week if he steps up more targets on a regular basis, but especially against the Lions, he brings outstanding upside. If you were counting on a WR who was ruled out at the last minute for Week 5 or missed the waiver wire pickups from earlier in the week, Bourne is a great late-week sleeper who emerged on Saturday with the news that Harrison will be inactive.
