NFL legend Cris Carter sent a message to Marvin Harrison Jr.'s doubters on Wednesday after the wide receiver didn't have the best debut season. Harrison Jr. was selected by the Arizona Cardinals with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Carter spoke about the expectations that some put on the rookie wide receiver. He thought that Harrison Jr. did a solid job despite not having enough time to prepare for the season.
“Yeah, I think he’s a big-time player," Carter said in an interview with Cardinals insider Kyle Odegard. "How long will it be until he makes the Pro Bowl? I don’t know that. Given the number of receivers we have in the NFC – AJ Brown, Deebo Samuel, Justin Jefferson – it’s hard to make the Pro Bowl."
Speaking about how the Pro Bowl should not be used to measure a player's worth Carter said:
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"They throw those things on people like, ‘Next year he’ll make the Pro Bowl.’ Eventually he will make the Pro Bowl, but the measuring stick shouldn’t be Pro Bowl in his second year.”
The Cardinals WR caught 62 passes this season, racking up 885 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in 17 games. The Cardinals started the season on a strong note, but as the weeks went by, they deflated, ultimately finishing the season with an 8-9 record,.
Cris Carter explains why he thought Marvin Harrison Jr. had a good season with the Cardinals
In the same conversation, Carter, a former wide receiver, shed light on the reason why Marvin Harrison Jr. had issues adapting to the NFL. Carter said that going straight from college to the NFL Combine to training camp and the season, rookies don't have much time to rest and prepare for the new challenge.
“I watched him an awful lot," Carter said. "I thought he had a really good rookie season adjusting to pro football. A lot of times people don’t realize, especially for these high draft picks, that their season goes so long. Their offseason leads right into the Combine, so they don’t really have an offseason."
"You could see in certain periods during the season that he looked a little bit fatigued, which we expect," Carter added.
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