Albert Breer didn’t exactly tiptoe around the Marvin Harrison Jr. conversation.
On a recent episode of The Breer Report, the Sports Illustrated insider was asked why Harrison, once billed as the top Ohio State receiver of his era, has looked like the least productive of the Buckeyes’ first-round wideouts. Breer’s answer was blunt: “I think you’re probably right.
He has been the worst one when you look at the guys who have gone in the first round. We’re talking Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, and Emeka Egbuka, who I think has flashed more potential early on than Harrison has.”
That’s a sharp turn for a player who entered the league with almost every box checked. Arizona took Harrison with the fourth overall pick, and the Cardinals also added another receiver, Tejhaun Palmer of UAB, in Round 6. Harrison came out of college with the kind of profile teams dream on: speed, YAC ability, body control, 31 college touchdowns, and the kind of NFL bloodline that comes with being the son of a Pro Football Hall of Famer.
His rookie year was solid, if not the instant takeover some expected. Harrison played all 17 games, started 16, and finished with 116 targets, 62 catches, 885 yards, a 14.3 yards-per-catch average, 43 first downs, one fumble, eight touchdowns, 148 YAC, and five drops. He still didn’t land on the NFL All-Rookie Team.
Year two was a mess of injuries. Concussion, appendectomy, heel damage, foot injury - the list kept growing. He managed only 12 games, with 73 targets, 41 receptions, 608 yards, four touchdowns, and four drops.
The “generational” label has faded fast, and talk of trade possibilities has already entered the picture.
Breer said he was surprised by how it has played out. “I’ll be honest with everyone here.
I’m surprised by the results. I thought Marvin Harrison was going to come in and be a dominant player pretty quickly in the NFL.
I do think if you look at the history of it, and this is really interesting, somebody at the Cardinals brought this up to me last year. Bigger receivers take a little longer to translate to the NFL because they have to do a little bit more to get open at the NFL level.
And there’s a little less space for them to be physically dominant the way they were in college.”
That theory has some holes, though, especially when Harrison himself is listed at 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds. Breer’s point was more about the general shape of the receiver archetype than Harrison being a true monster.
And the drop issue has only made the criticism louder. He has nine drops in two seasons, and several of them came at painful moments in games.
The comparison Breer drew was to bigger receivers who needed time before fully taking off. Calvin Johnson, at 6-foot-5 and 237 pounds, caught 48 passes for 756 yards as a rookie, then jumped to 78 catches, 1,331 yards, and 12 touchdowns in year two.
By year five, he was at 96 catches, 1,681 yards, and 16 scores, and in year seven he posted 122 receptions for 1,964 yards and five touchdowns. Randy Moss, listed at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, came out hot with 69 catches, 1,313 yards, and 17 receiving touchdowns, then topped 1,000 yards in each of his first six seasons, including 1,632 in year six.
Breer’s broader point was that faster receivers don’t face the same kind of adjustment. “If you’re one of these faster guys that was drafted at the top of the first round, being able to run by people doesn’t really change. There’s not as much of an adjustment.”
He also pointed to the situation around Harrison in Arizona. “I think the other piece of it is where he went.
Going to Arizona and having a coaching staff that was walking the Green Mile last year. The quarterback situation being what it was.
I just think there were so many moving parts there. It’s gonna be interesting with Michael LaFleur there now with a different offense coming in.”
Arizona’s track record with receivers is part of why Harrison landed there in the first place. Larry Fitzgerald, Roy Green, Anquan Bolden, and Mel Gray all came through the organization, and Harrison was supposed to be the next major name in that line.
Even now, Breer isn’t writing him off. “I do know that (Harrison, Jr.) is an incredibly motivated guy.
He has the goal of being one of the greatest to ever play the position. Obviously, the bloodlines are there.
I still wouldn’t close the book on Marvin Harrison. But I agree, after two years, he isn’t what I had though was was going to be.
He completely dominated college football.”
The biggest thing now is simple: stay on the field. Breer’s warning was clear enough. A promising career can unravel fast when injuries keep piling up, and one major setback can change everything in a hurry.
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