Week 9 Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em: Tetairoa McMillan vs. Marvin Harrson Jr.
As we get closer to Week 9, fantasy owners have to make the tough start and sit decisions. Two wide receivers that a lot of fantasy owners have to decide between are Marvin Harrison Jr and Tetairoa McMillan. These are two ultra-talented young receivers.
Harrison was widely considered the best wideout in the 2024 NFL Draft, and McMillan was widely considered the top receiver in the 2025 NFL Draft. However, both have been held back a bit by their offense, whether that be a quarterback or coaching issue. It looks like both young wideouts will have their starting quarterbacks back this week with solid matchups, which makes this an even tougher decision.
Marvin Harrison Jr, Arizona Cardinals
The Case For Marvin Harrison Jr
After a rough couple of games with Kyler Murray out of action, the Cardinals' starting quarterback is expected to return this week. That should be a big boost for Harrison, who has caught a total of four passes for 90 yards during the two games with Murray out. Arizona is coming off a bye week to a fantastic matchup. They will take on the Dallas Cowboys, who have the worst defense in the league and are allowing the most fantasy points in the league to wide receivers. It's hard to sit anybody against the Cowboys.
The Case Against Marvin Harrison Jr
For the second year in a row, the Cardinals coaching staff has had a tough time getting Harrison as involved as he should be. Granted, early on in the year, he appeared to have a bit of the yips, but he seems to have gotten over his early-season drop issues. Still, his upside seems limited because he hasn't hit 100 yards in a game yet this season after only accomplishing the feat twice as a rookie, and has only scored two TDs all year. His ceiling may not be nearly as high as we think it should be. In other words, he could end up being the Kyle Pitts of wide receiver prospects.
CHECK OUT OUR WEEK 9 FANTASY FOOTBALL WIDE RECEIVER PROJECTIONS!
Tetairoa McMillan, Carolina Panthers
The Case For Tetairoa McMillan
Like Harrison, McMillan is expected to get his starting quarterback back this week after Andy Dalton started last week, with Bryce Young dealing with an injury. However, that move seems to be more of a lateral one in this case. McMillan also has a solid matchup against the Green Bay Packers, who have allowed the 11th-most fantasy points to wide receivers this season. This year, he has been the better option than Harrison. Both wideouts have two TDs, but McMillan has caught 32 passes for 512 yards, and Harrison has totaled 24 catches for 396 yards. Harrison's highest yardage total in a game was 98, a number that McMillan has topped twice, albeit in 99 and 100-yard games.
The Case Against McMillan
While both wide receivers are getting their starting quarterbacks back this week, Murray is a much larger boost than Young. Also, while the Packers aren't a bad matchup, they are significantly tougher than the Cowboys. He has a lot more to overcome in this game than Harrison.
Verdict: Tetairoa McMillan vs. Marvin Harrison Jr.
We are starting Harrison over McMillan this week. We just can't bench a clear WR1 against the Dallas Cowboys. The matchup has been too great for too many players. It's as simple as that. As of this writing, Harrison is our eighth-ranked receiver while McMillan is the WR21 in our Week 9 WR projections.
More Fantasy Sports On SI News:
-0e06b43c57ceb063781f337e307e72d4.png "Mark Morales-Smith")
Mark Morales-Smith is a father of five, a former college football scout and semi-pro football player. Morales-Smith is a long-time competitive fantasy football player with well over a decade of professional writing experience at multiple high-level sites, including Sports Illustrated, FullTime Fantasy, FantasySP, and more.
Follow CoolCutter21