Cardinals’ OT D.J. Humphries talks Marvin Harrison Jr., recovery from torn ACL

The Arizona Cardinals can pivot in a lot of different directions this offseason. Arizona could address the offense and take a lineman or add a playmaking wide receiver with its fourth overall pick. They could trade down for more draft capital and be able to address more needs. The defensive side of the ball has a lot of work to be done on it as well.

Offensive lineman D.J. Humphries believes that Marvin Harrison Jr. is the missing piece to the Cardinals’ offensive puzzle and should be drafted with Arizona’s fourth overall pick.

Humphries, who spoke on former teammate Justin Pugh’s podcast, “NetWorth with Justin Pugh,” thinks that if three quarterbacks are picked with the first three picks, then the best available player after would be Harrison

“Adding him to the cast that we already got, it’s like we need another piece here,” Humphries said. “I don’t know how else you can do it, unless it was something that was like ‘we traded this for this’, and we got so much capital for the pick. But it’s too easy to miss.”

Harrison is considered the top wide receiver in this year’s draft class. The last time the Cardinals picked a wide receiver in the top five was Larry Fitzgerald, the third overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft.

Pugh, who played in Arizona from 2018-22, said that Harrison reminds him of Fitzgerald because of their similar physical attributes and both receivers’ tremendous success in college.

Fitzgerald is listed at 6-foot-3 tall as is Harrison. Fitzgerald was named 2003 Big East Offensive Player of the Year, while Harrison secured the 2023 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year.

Another name that came to mind for Pugh was former Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins spent three years in Arizona, tallying up 2,696 receiving yards while scoring 17 touchdowns over 35 games.

“I remember we had Larry Fitzgerald to start, and then we had DeAndre Hopkins,” Pugh said. “You have a dude who can just go down the field and catch it no matter who’s covering them. We always used to say, ‘screw it, D-hop is down there somewhere.'”

D.J. Humphries’s recovery from ACL injury

On top of his draft preferences, Humphries also dove into his recovery thus far since tearing his ACL in a win against the Philadelphia Eagles on New Year’s Eve.

For Humphries, the mindset going into his rehabilitation is the same as his mindset going into anything related to football:

Attack and succeed.

“Whatever the obstacle is, we are attacking it and achieving our goal,” Humphries said. “Every day I’m going to rehab like I’m trying to get a Super Bowl out of this knee. Whatever I have to do to make sure I am moving the needle. This ain’t the end of it for sure.”

Humphries is considered a prime cut candidate for Arizona as he just turned 30, has two years left on his current deal and will likely miss most of the regular season. Moving on from Humphries with a post-June 1 designation would create around $15.9 million in cap savings with a dead-money hit of $6.9 million, per OverTheCap.

He already had a lengthy injury history, missing the second half of the 2022 season with a back problem and tearing his MCL in 2017. The Cardinals and Humphries agreed to a three-year, $66.8 million extension on Aug. 2, 2022, that runs through the 2025 season.

The 30-year-old remains optimistic that he’ll be able to make it back onto the field at some point during the upcoming 2024-25 season.

“Everything in the recovery is going smooth. I’m feeling much better,” Humphries said. “Swelling on my knee went down, it’s moving good. I’m past 90-degree flexion, I got all my extension back. We are rolling, man.”