Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. said he added some weight and muscle since the 2024 season and is looking forward to improving his play in 2025. (Photo by Nash Darragh/Cronkite News)
TEMPE – At first glance, Marvin Harrison Jr. appears slightly different as he wades into what will be his sophomore season with the Arizona Cardinals. The wide receiver added bulk to his 6-foot-3 frame during his first NFL offseason, hoping to improve upon what some believe was a disappointing rookie season.
“I actually put on some pounds, added some muscles to my body a little bit,” Harrison said recently at the Arizona Cardinals’ practice facility following a Cardinals’ voluntary organized team activity session, or OTA. “Still just trying to see how my body feels throughout OTAs and training camp, more so throughout OTAs, and then kind of getting a specific weight to settle in for training camp.”
As the Cardinals prepare for the 2025 NFL regular season – training camp begins in the middle of July – they’ll again be searching for that elusive playoff spot. Arizona doubled its win total last season compared to the two previous years, going from four to eight wins. The Cardinals’ final 8-9 record ranked them third in the NFC West behind the division-winning Los Angeles Rams and second-place Seattle Seahawks. The San Francisco 49ers brought up the caboose, as the injury-ridden season amounted the reigning Super Bowl runners-up to only six wins.
For all NFL teams, OTAs and the fast-approaching training camp mean it is time to learn new schemes, adjust to new teammates and prepare for the long trek ahead in fighting for a spot to play at Levi’s Stadium on February 8 for the 2026 Super Bowl.
“Football is a physical game, a lot of contested situations, super contested catch situations, running for catch, and things like that,” Harrison said. “So I want to see how things play out throughout OTAs and training camp.”
Harrison, selected No. 4 overall by the Cardinals in the 2024 draft out of Ohio State, was viewed by many as the best receiver in what was a stacked wide receiver class, including Malik Nabers, Rome Odunze, Brian Thomas Jr., Ladd McConkey and company.
But out of the rookie receiver bunch, Harrison finished with the fifth-most receiving yards and receptions. He tied with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Jalen McMillan for the second-most receiving touchdowns, securing eight. Weirdly enough, stacked against some familiar wide receiver faces – his father Marvin, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, and Larry Fitzgerald, the retired Pro Bowler who played 17 seasons with the Cardinals – Harrison’s numbers were notably similar:
-Marvin Harrison Jr.
Rec. 62 | Rec Yds 885 | TDs 8
-Marvin Harrison Sr.
Rec. 64 | Rec Yds 836 | TDs 8
-Larry Fitzgerald
Rec. 58 | Rec Yds 780 | TDs 8
“No matter what’s happening on the field, I am just very humble. But I feel like I definitely do have a switch I can switch on more next year,” Harrison said. “I think that just comes with being comfortable playing the game, and playing at the speed of the NFL.”
Harrison has a unique view on the two cornerbacks Arizona selected in the 2025 NFL draft. Phoenix native Denzel Burke came from Harrison’s former team, the Buckeyes, while Will Johnson hails from Ohio State’s arch rival, Michigan, aka the “Team up North.” The Cardinals took Johnson in the second round with their second pick (47th overall), followed by Burke in the fifth round (No. 147 overall).
The Cardinals’ Will Johnson is “up there as one of the best” cornerbacks he’s faced, wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. said. (Photo by Truitt Robinson/Cronkite News)
“He’s definitely up there as one of the best ones I’ve faced,” Harrison said of Johnson, who slid from a projected Day 1 selection to the second round following injury concerns. “He and Denzel. They’re both here now. So, definitely the top of the line for the corners I faced in college.”
Harrison feels that the new and improved Cardinals are contenders for the playoffs. His main concern heading into the season is reaching that goal and securing a hometown playoff game for Cardinals’ fans. Arizona’s last trip to the postseason came in 2021, when the Cardinals lost to the Rams at SoFi Stadium in the wild-card round. The Cardinals haven’t hosted a playoff game since Jan. 16, 2016, when they beat the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round.
Nearly a decade has passed since that home playoff game – a nail-biting 24-20 overtime win at what was then called the University of Phoenix Stadium. Harrison figures the Cardinals are due for another shot at the postseason.
“First, (it) starts with team success, I think you’ve got to make the playoffs,” Harrison said. “This is the year that I feel like we want to do what we need to do. We have all the pieces we need. We just gotta go out there and execute at this point. That’s why they brought me here, to help this team win games.
“So, improvement for me looks like winning more games than last year. I want to get a hometown (playoff) game for Arizona.”
The Cardinals open the regular season Sept. 7 against the Saints in New Orleans, before hosting the Carolina Panthers Sept. 14 at State Farm Stadium.
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