Arizona Cardinals rookie star wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. made his regular-season debut during Sunday afternoon’s showdown with the Buffalo Bills, but it’s safe to say that it didn’t go quite as expected.
Marvin Harrison Jr. had just one catch for four yards in the game. Part of the reason for that is that he had just a 6% separation win rate, meaning he wasn’t exactly beating defensive backs and getting open. And as the social media account Gridiron Grading pointed out, this isn’t necessarily a new trend for the star rookie.
“Marvin Harrison Jr. with a 6% separation win rate in Week 1. We charted him with a 30th percentile separation score (on targets) in college. It was a large reason he was our WR3 in the 2024 draft. Not to say he won’t find ways to win in the NFL, but this is not a new trend,” Gridiron Grading said in a post on X, the social media website that was formerly known as Twitter.
Marvin Harrison Jr. with a 6% separation win rate in Week 1.
We charted him with a 30th percentile separation score (on targets) in college.
It was a large reason he was our WR3 in the 2024 draft.
Not to say he won’t find ways to win in the NFL, but this is not a new trend. https://t.co/pUDZBfzdjr
— Gridiron Grading (@GridironGrading) September 10, 2024
Needless to say, this is pretty horrible news for Harrison as he begins his rookie season, and it led to a lot of reactions on social media.
For anyone suggesting cardinals just simply needed to force feed marvin harrison jr the ball. He simply did not play well; lowest separation score for all rookies and slowest max speed reached. https://t.co/jOMlk7tdIk
— . (@Jballing3r) September 11, 2024
I heard Moss T.O and Dez Bryant comps for XL https://t.co/ZTgtcIXApl
— DIRTYBIRDS (@ATLVsTheWRLD) September 11, 2024
Cool cool cool, would have been nice for anyone in the entire fantasy industry to flag Marvin as a bust but no it’s cool I’m not mad
— Joe (@jmag47) September 10, 2024
Oh no
— Jeff Mueller, PT, DPT (@jmthrivept) September 10, 2024
Where do we see Josh Downs' standing in this WR room once he's back and healthy?
— Aryeh (@AryehRE) September 10, 2024
I think this is the biggest “It will be fine” story right now where there is at least a tiny bit of doubt that cannot be said out loud as of yet.
I too, think it will be fine
— DJ (@itsdana_dane) September 10, 2024
We’ll have to see whether or not Harrison can improve on this performance this week against the Los Angeles Rams.
