What do we do with Marvin Harrison Jr. in 2025?

Marvin Harrison Jr. did not live up to expectations in his rookie season. Some of that is probably on the fantasy football community as a whole - the hype was unreal - but even if that was tempered a bit, the numbers didn't end up where most people believed they would be.

Nothing has changed with the skill set, however, and there were not any new notable additions to this offense heading into 2025.

Now that his ADP has dropped by a couple of rounds, should we buy back in to bet on talent, or is last year reflective of how things will look with Kyler Murray as his quarterback moving forward?

High target count, but didn't convert them into catches

And what's crazy about that is not a lot of them were on him.

Per Pro Football Reference, Marvin Harrison Jr. had just five drops on 116 total targets, putting him among the top-20 of pass catchers that had 100 or more targets last season.

The larger problem is that the timing with Kyler Murray. Using some quick math, he caught 62 balls last season, plus the five drops, gives us 67 targets that were considered "catchable". Over 42% of his targets last season were considered uncatchable.

Wait, is this actually a Kyler Murray blog?

Well, they need to co-exist with each other, but no. Team target leader Trey McBride only saw 23% of his targets uncatchable. Kyler isn't the most accurate quarterback, and obviously has the ability to run which may limit some of the passing opportunities for Marvin Harrison Jr..

There's got to be something else that was missing from the equation.

The Cardinals are expected to expand Marvin Harrison Jr.'s route tree in year two

The game plan last season was a lot of deep balls to MHJ, early and often, which isn't exactly the best way to handle your WR1 in an offense. Reports out of training camp make it sound like they're looking to expand the way they use him this season.

As that route tree expands, it'll likely expand closer to the line of scrimmage. I would expect his over 13 yard number in average depth of target from 2024 to come down closer to 10-11 yards in 2025, giving him more "layup" catch opportunities than he was afforded in 2024. That will increase his fantasy totals, his efficiency, and his ability to make plays after the catch - while still keeping some of the downfield opportunities in play.

So where would I draft Marvin Harrison Jr. in PPR leagues for the 2025 fantasy football season?

I currently have Marvin Harrison Jr. inside of the top 30 overall on my Draft Dominator tool, ahead of his consensus ADP. To me, there's opportunity for additional upside and a raised floor in year two, especially if they're going to keep his target count steady - or even increase it - and ensure that they're putting him in a better position to succeed than they did last season.

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