ESPN: Cardinals’ Marvin Harrison Jr. one of the most intriguing players in 2024

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. enters his rookie season as a potential No.1 wide receiver for quarterback Kyler Murray and the team’s offense as they look to improve from their 4-13 record in 2023.

ESPN’s Dan Graziano has Harrison as one of the most intriguing players headed into 2024 and the Cardinals offense could take another step in progression.

Harrison has occupied the football fan’s consciousness for so long now that we almost forget about him. But if he’s the prospect the Cardinals (and most of the league) believe him to be, Arizona’s passing game could be set to reach new heights much more quickly than a lot of people are assuming.

Graziano said the Cardinals’ expectations headed into the season are much higher due to the drafting of Harrison.

I personally believe the Cardinals could have a sneaky good offense. After quarterback Kyler Murray returned from his torn ACL in Week 10 of last season, Arizona had the league’s second-best rushing attack behind only Buffalo (152.8 yards per game) — and the ninth-best offense overall (362.8). Add in a full, healthy offseason for Murray, who seems rejuvenated under coach Jonathan Gannon, and a year’s worth of experience in the Drew Petzing offense, and we could have expected fairly big things even if the Cardinals hadn’t added the most pro-ready wide receiver prospect in recent memory with the fourth pick of the draft.

Harrison joins the Cardinals in an offseason that saw much turnaround at the position following the departure of Marquise Brown in free agency and the team trading Rondale Moore to the Atlanta Falcons.

Along with drafting Harrison, the Cardinals signed Zay Jones and Chris Moore to one-year deals to join second-year pro Michael Wilson and Greg Dortch along with tight end Trey McBride, who led the Cardinals in receiving in 2023, catching 81 passes for 825 yards and three touchdowns.

The No. 4 pick is coming off two good seasons at Ohio State in which he had 144 catches for 2,474 receiving yards and 28 touchdowns. He also scored once on the ground during the 2023 season.

For his efforts last year, Harrison was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and was also a finalist for the 2023 Heisman Trophy.