Marvin Harrison Jr. Has Five Catches Through Four Games and a Seahawks Rookie on IR Has Almost as Many

Marvin Harrison Jr. has five catches through four games this season, a shocking downturn for a guy drafted fourth overall in 2024 who everyone thought was a future Hall of Famer. After what he did at Ohio State, it didn’t take much imagination to see his NFL career taking off, but 33 games later, the conversation is all about whether he’d be better off playing somewhere other than Arizona. Trading for Harrison means believing the Cardinals aren’t getting the most out of him and that another team can do better, and frankly, the first part of that argument is getting easier to make every single week with the NFL trade deadline fast approaching.

From Anointed Star to Question Mark: The No. 4 Pick’s Struggle

Being the fourth pick comes with massive expectations, period. We know what top-10 receivers should produce; the average rookie over the last decade put up 901 receiving yards. Harrison’s 885 yards in 2024 was a respectable start, even if it felt a little short of what we all expected. But things haven’t gotten better. Last season, he managed only 608 yards in 12 games. Now, through four games in 2026, he’s got a paltry five catches for 85 yards. For perspective, our own Seahawks rookie running back, Jadarian Price, who played just three games before landing on IR, has four receptions! This is the same Price who was targeted only 14 times over his final two seasons at Notre Dame, while Harrison was getting targeted at least 13 times in four *different games* during his final year at Ohio State. Yeah, it’s wild.

Across 33 NFL games, Harrison has 1,578 receiving yards. Compare that to Amari Cooper, another fourth-overall pick, who had 2,285 yards at the same point. Corey Davis, the fifth pick in 2017, had 1,503. Harrison’s production looks a lot closer to Davis’s than Cooper’s right now.

Big Plays Hide a Deeper Problem

Let’s dig into the numbers because some of this actually looks encouraging, while other parts are just plain concerning. Harrison’s 13 touchdowns through his first 33 games are more than Cooper (12) or CeeDee Lamb (11) had. He’s also ninth in explosive receptions per target at 20.8 percent. So the big plays *are* there, he just isn’t consistently producing.

Now for the rough stuff: He’s down at 33rd among first-round receivers in receiving yards per game (47.8) and 35th in receptions per game (3.27). His catch rate of 53.5 percent puts him at 46th, and his yards after catch per reception at 2.5 is tied for 51st. The biggest worry of all might be that Harrison is playing more, but he’s producing less. As the NFL trade deadline looms, everyone’s watching to see if a fresh start could actually unlock the potential we all saw in him.

This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.

Originally reported by CBS Sports.