Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon on Marvin Harrison Jr.: ‘Just wait until this year’

The Arizona Cardinals have big plans for wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., whom they selected with the No. 4 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft out of Ohio State. And nobody is more bullish on Harrison’s future than his head coach, Jonathan Gannon.

“When the staff’s in place, the jump from Year 1 to Year 2, I think that’s where guys make a huge jump. This guy played unbelievable ball for us, but if you talk to him, he’d be the first to tell you, like, ‘I need to get better at these couple things,’ and, man, he has went to work on them,” Gannon said about Harrison in an interview with Mad Dog Sports Radio on Wednesday.

“He has went to work on them. He looks awesome out there right now. I’m really excited to see where his game goes.”

Appearing in every game in his 2024 rookie season, Harrison totaled 62 receptions for 885 yards (14.3 yards per reception) and a team-high eight touchdowns. He posted 100-plus receiving yards in two games. Harrison was 24th among wide receivers with a 77.7 overall grade and 29th with a 77.2 receiving grade, according to Pro Football Focus.

While Harrison certainly held his own in Year 1, his rookie season came against the backdrop of Malik Nabers (No. 6 pick) and Brian Thomas Jr. (No. 23 pick) having spectacular first years with their respective teams: Nabers totaled 109 receptions for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns in 15 games for the New York Giants, while Thomas totaled 87 receptions for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Across his final two seasons at Ohio State (2022-23), Harrison averaged 72 receptions for 1,237 yards and 14 touchdowns per season. He was a two-time All-American and the 2023 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year. Gannon thinks that player will show for the Cardinals in 2025.

Kyler Murray hits Marvin Harrison Jr. on a 12-yard TD pass, extending Cardinals’ lead over 49ers

“He [Harrison] came up to me — I normally meet with guys about their developmental plan when we’re done with the year — when I had my meeting with him, he came up to me, and he handed me a piece of paper. It wasn’t me handing him a piece of paper,” Gannon said. “But we knew that. The guy’s a ready-made pro. He does all the right things. He was here the whole offseason. He skipped out one week, he went and trained with a bunch of different receivers, but he was here the whole offseason.

“I think he added a little bit of muscle mass. He looks a little bit bigger. All his numbers, his metrics are all better than when we got him. I’m not gonna speak truth into the universe, but just wait until this guy plays this year.”

The Cardinals are coming off an 8-9 season that saw them lose five of their last seven games. Gannon is entering his third season as Arizona’s head coach, with the team a combined 12-22 under him.

Harrison leads a Cardinals wide receiver room that includes Michael Wilson, Greg Dortch and Zay Jones but one that’s also complemented by tight end Trey McBride, who was fourth in the NFL with 111 receptions last season. Arizona has primarily allocated its cap space on defense this offseason, signing linebackers Josh Sweat (four-year, $76.4 million deal) and Akeem Davis-Gaither (two-year, $10 million deal) and defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson (two-year, $29 million deal), among other moves.

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