Marvin Harrison Jr. Reminded NFL World That He's Elite

Arizona Cardinals rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. enjoyed his breakout performance in Sunday's 41-10 blowout Week 2 victory over the Los Angeles Rams. Harrison Jr. was unstoppable, recording four receptions for 130 yards and two touchdowns. The Rams had no answer for his big-play ability.

It was a timely showing after Harrison Jr. was limited to one catch for four yards in Week 1. Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing clearly made Harrison Jr.'s involvement a focal point in his game plan. He saw a game-high eight targets. It was the correct decision.

All of Harrison Jr.'s production happened during a dominant opening quarter. His first career touchdown occurred on a 2nd-and-8 mere minutes into the game. Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray floated a ball over Rams veteran cornerback Tre’Davious White with pitch-perfect placement near the sideline.

That 23-yard touchdown had a completion probability of just 13.7%, the most improbable TD of the 2024 season so far, according to Next Gen Stats. Harrison Jr. created just 0.7 yards of separation and was 0.7 yards from being deemed out of bounds when the pass arrived. Harrison Jr. displayed poise in bunches to complete the catch.

Harrison Jr.'s second touchdown was another thing of beauty. Murray faked the play-action from under center before rolling to his right. Murray delivered a deep ball to Harrison Jr. via a simple flick of his wrist. The first-round wideout got behind the Rams' secondary while hitting a max speed of 20 MPH on the GPS, per NGS, and finished by extending the ball into the end zone.

Harrison Jr.'s 130 receiving yards ranks third across Week 2 heading into Monday Night Football, trailing just Nico Collins (135) and Justin Jefferson (133). He and Quentin Johnston were the only receivers to score more than one touchdown on Sunday. 

Despite the deep-ball touchdown, Harrison Jr. still ranked near the bottom of the league in Week 2 in separation yards created on his targets. He averaged just 1.6 yards of distance between himself and the nearest defender on his targets, per NGS. You'd prefer to see Harrison Jr. create more separation, but his innate ability to dominate the catch point continues to be an equalizer.

The Cardinals' reaction to Harrison Jr.’s quiet debut performance was to target him deep down the field. His average targeted air yards (TAY) of 19.3 ranked second behind just Calvin Ridley (24.6), and his 69.63% share of Arizona’s air yards trailed just fellow rookie Malik Nabers (73.54%).

Harrison Jr. also did a great job creating yards after the catch, something that wasn't considered a strength of his at Ohio State. He averaged 8.1 yards after catch per reception, compared to an expected average of just 4.5. Harrison Jr.'s 3.6 yards after catch above expectation ranked fifth-best among all qualifying wideouts in Week 2.

Overreactions to Harrison Jr.'s Week 1 performance ran rampant. Unsurprisingly, they've been proven to be extremely premature. Harrison Jr. broke out of his shell on Sunday, and he should continue being heavily targeted by Murray moving forward.