What Marvin Harrison Jr. Needs to Prove in Arizona Cardinals Preseason Debut

Year two for Marvin Harrison Jr. starts tonight as the Arizona Cardinals kick off their first preseason game of the year. After no time playing exhibition games as a rookie, Harrison has an opportunity to get right before the season starts.

In what many claim was a disappointing rookie season for the former fourth overall pick, perhaps some playing time before the games start to matter can help get him right. Not to say that missing the preseason a year ago caused his slow start, but there is a chance it affected him. That won’t be the case when he sees however much time he does tonight.

With that being said, we are not certain how much he will play — we could see Harrison play a few drives or even a quarter or more. But no matter how much he is on the field, there will be certain aspects we will be paying attention to.

What We Need to See From Marvin Harrison Jr. in Preseason Debut

Arizona Cardinals WR Marvin Harrison Jr — Jul 29, 2025; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. (18) during training camp at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

We’ve all seen the pictures of how big Harrison looks now. His muscles look as big as his head, and it will be interesting to see how a new playing weight impacts his play on the field. Not every player performs better with added muscle mass, but perhaps his new build will help his development.

A lot of Harrison’s lack of production as a rookie can be attributed to the way he was used in the team’s offense. There were times it felt as though Harrison was made to be a distraction for defenses rather than a key component to the offense. This felt especially true when the Cardinals would ask him to stretch the field as a deep threat.

Simply put, the strengths to Harrison’s game were not put on full display as a rookie. Hopefully, his usage this year will reflect and complement what he does best. There should be no questioning his talent and upside, which we still saw on full display as a rookie. However, we need the consistency, and a portion of that has to do with play calling.

Other than that, it will be nice to see overall refinement to his route running, which we can observe no matter how many targets he gets. Hopefully, he gets opportunities to run block too, considering the team has stressed all summer how badly they want to run the football in 2025.

I doubt we see eye-popping numbers or very many highlight plays, but hopefully, when you go to the film room, you can notice subtle nuances to his game that will translate to the regular season and result in more success.