Now released from the lofty expectations that came with his rookie season, Marvin Harrison Jr. is heading into Year 2 feeling more free and dangerous.

Harrison joined Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke on Tuesday at Cardinals training camp to talk about his jump going into Year 2, lifted expectations and his excitement to prove himself this season.

Harrison knows just how crucial the jump is from Year 1 to Year 2 and is ready to take his game to the next level.

“Absolutely, I think that’s got to be your biggest jump, honestly,” Harrison said. “In Year 1 you kind of get adjusted and get acclimated to the NFL life, but Year 2 you really got to take off and that’s my plan.”

The first season in the NFL is always a tough challenge for rookies. The game speed from college to the NFL is drastically different and most rookies usually need time to adjust to the league’s faster and more physical side.

Harrison has always had the skills, but this offseason, he worked significantly on the physical side of the sport, adding more muscle to go along with his quickness.

Harrison’s weight gain over the offseason has been a major talking point as he looked noticeably more bulked up during a Cardinals media availability back in May, so much so that Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray thought the photo of Harrison was altered with AI.

Now entering training camp, Harrison has officially added 11 pounds to his frame, now putting him at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds. Harrison said putting on some increased muscle over the offseason has aided his game so far.

“I feel different and I feel great,” Harrison said. “I think it’s showing up in obviously the stem of the route, it’s being physical at the top of the route, being able to push off a little bit, create some more separation. And at the catch point, too, a bit to make some contested catches, but I feel great, I feel fast, feel explosive, I feel very powerful.”

Harrison wasn’t content with his performance in Year 1 and went right to back to work after the season ended, knowing exactly which adjustments he needed to make.

“It started with me,” Harrison said. “I evaluate myself and place myself to a very high standard so any time that you don’t have the success you know you’re capable of, got to go back to drawing boards, figure out where can I get better, where can I improve? I feel like I started with my body, start there. And obviously everything else is going to kind of take care of itself with the skillsets and developing my abilities on the field, but I started there and kind of went from there.”

Harrison, the son of Hall of Fame wide receiver Marvin Harrison, has had high expectations associated with him long before he was drafted fourth overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. Harrison dominated college football at Ohio State and many fans and proponents of Harrison were ready to see him take the league by storm.

That wasn’t exactly the case as although Harrison had a solid rookie campaign, catching 62 passes for 885 yards and eight touchdowns, he had bigger aspirations for the impact he wanted to have on offense. He attributed some of his rookie troubles to the immense expectations and pressure that was put on him, but he stated that he has since learned how to handle it better going into Year 2.

“I feel like I have all the expectations and pressure kind of off my shoulders now a little bit and I’m very thankful,” Harrison said. “I can go out there and be more free and be more confident with my abilities, but Year 1, it’s just like expectations, the pressure, people expect you to be certain people and where you get drafted and all that takes a toll on you a little bit. Now I just get to go out there and play.”

As the 2025 season looms closer, Harrison isn’t focused on what he was or wasn’t able to do last year, he simply understands the task at hand: proving himself this year again and again.