Marvin Harrison Jr.’s productivity should ramp up heading into the Fantasy Football playoffs

It’s been feast or famine for Marvin Harrison Jr. all season long. He’s averaging 11.5 Fantasy points per game, but the consistency every week has left much to be desired. In 13 weeks, Harrison has scored double-digit Fantasy points just six times. If it wasn’t for a Week 2 29-point explosion against the Los Angeles Chargers and his Week 8 23-point outing against the Miami Dolphins, his 11.5 Fantasy points per game would be even lower.

Harrison is ranked 30th among all Fantasy wide receivers, and he’s starting in 69% of all leagues. While Harrison is only a rookie, there’s plenty of reason to be satisfied with his performance so far. Heath Cummings was asked on the Week 13 Fantasy Recap podcast if Harrison was his top rookie wide receiver. While he spoke glowingly of Harrison, he had another WR in mind as his No. 1 rookie.

“It’s probably still Malik Nabers, but Marvin Harrison Jr. would probably be second for me,” Heath said. “Next week’s matchup is probably the worst that he has all season long, and it’s the week where six teams are on a bye. But then you get the Patriots, you get the Panthers, and I’m not too scared of the Rams. If they finally, for some reason, start throwing him the ball double-digit times per game, he might, in the Fantasy playoffs, justify his ADP. Now, I’m not sure how many people drafted him in Round 2 that are going to make the Fantasy playoffs, but he might be that guy as a borderline No. 1 wide receiver in the last three weeks of the Fantasy season.”

Nabers commands a much higher target share than Harrison and has averaged 16.2 Fantasy points so far this year. He’s clearly the top rookie wide receiver, and when the Giants can improve at the quarterback position, he’s going to be that much more productive.

Harrison, on the other hand, is already playing alongside a top-tier quarterback. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any emphasis on getting him the football. In fact, Kyler Murray said earlier in the year in reference to Harrison’s lack of production: “As a quarterback going through your reads, sometimes the ball goes to him. It’s (targeting Harrison) not my job.”

When you take a wide receiver with the No. 4 overall pick, getting him the ball frequently should be a part of the game plan, but apparently, that isn’t the case in Arizona. The reason Harrison hasn’t made the big splash everyone believes he should’ve made as a rookie is that the Cardinals have had their fair share of protection issues. They’ve elected to use more 12 personnel (one back and two running backs) to help keep Kyler Murray upright.

Unfortunately, due to protection issues, the deeper routes Harrison is running rarely have time to develop unless Murray is able to extend the play with his legs. This means the tight ends are going to be targeted on shallow crossing routes much more consistently. As it stands, Harrison is “decoy boy,” especially when the run game isn’t having much success. When the run game is working, there’s always a chance that a deep shot off play-action may happen. Harrison will surely be targeted more in the future, but the way this team is presently constructed stifles his productivity.

Given the condensed splits and personnel groupings, this Cardinals offense is very similar to Greg Roman’s offense in Baltimore. One thing I do like is that in the red zone, the Cardinals offense is spreading defenses out. While there are still two tight ends in the game, they’re lined up at wide receiver, and this will often leave Harrison manned up while Murray uses his legs to buy time.

The Cardinals will face the Seattle Seahawks in Week 14, and their pass defense is currently ranked No. 15 in the NFL. He’s expected to reach 13.7 Fantasy points, but he could have a tough time separating against Riq Woolen. I would expect him to underperform a bit in Seattle, but after that, the Cardinals face the Patriots, Panthers, Rams, and a depleted 49ers team. As Heath said, given the matchups, he could be a factor in the playoffs. 

For more Fantasy insight, be sure to check out the entire Week 13 Fantasy Recap – or watch (and subscribe) on Youtube.