MHJ is actually good and will get better

cardsfanmd

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I know the negativity will never end here but to those who are subconsciously succumbing to the boards’ relentless whimpers of massive disappointment in Harrison…. Stop.

We aren’t in the playoffs. The team faded, yet again, down the stretch. Murray didn’t mystically all of the sudden become Mahomes. Harrison, though def not perfect and not the iron-clad immediate HOFer that some expected, actually had a damn good year and showed a ton of promise. No, he wasn’t the best rookie this year, let alone this decade. He’s got work to put in as far as beating press coverage, coming back to the ball, fighting to win contested catches and breaking tackles, amongst plenty of other things. He did, however have a better statistical year than plenty of other guys who turned out to be good. His size, speed, agility, work ethic, intelligence and character, all main components to the consensus high opinion of him pre-draft, were just as good as expected.

The results of my 2-1/2 minute google search showed his first year to be better than that of:
Fitz
Marvin Harrison Sr
Tyreek Hill
Cooper Kupp
Devonte Adams
Ceedee Lamb
Deandre Hopkins
Stefon Diggs
Deebo Samuel

Maybe he’ll never as good be Amon-ta St Brown, Jamar Chase or Malik Nabers. Time will tell. This season, however, was not a sign that he can’t be. Chase was reunited with his college quarterback, St Brown had a rookie RB and a not yet great Hockenson as the only other weapons and Nabers was option 1-5 for New York this year. None of those three had 1 let alone 2 other offensive skill position players as good as McBride or Conner to compete with for looks and touches their rookie year. Jaylen Waddle had 100+ catches and 1000+ yards his rookie year when his running back was my Uncle Remis’ plumber and the only other WR whose name people know was Devante Parker. The following offseason, the team signed Tyreek Hill. Waddle played more games and more snaps in 2022 but finished with 30 less catches. Since then, his receptions have dropped ever year. His yardage increased the next year but, I think it’s fair to say, that was due in part due to Hill’s presence and Waddle having a year of NFL experience under his belt to help exploit the defenses not prioritizing him. This stuff could be spun multiple ways, I know.
 

Brian in Mesa

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Agreed. MHJ had a very good rookie season, just not up to our massive expectations.
Well, to be fair, he was the one "doing things differently" (skipping the combine, no pro day, etc.). He told us about his special insight and advice from his father who played in the league and how that was going to give him an advantage and he would be an instant pro WR from day one...blah, blah, blah.

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Just another rookie.
 

Cardiac

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I was disappointed in his contested catch abilities. He made some excellent boundaries catches. At this time Nabers appears to be the more explosive and dynamic WR.
 

FB94

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MHJ seems very dedicated to his craft and I’m sure he will look to improve on all his deficiencies we are pointing out
 

Russ Smith

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I know the negativity will never end here but to those who are subconsciously succumbing to the boards’ relentless whimpers of massive disappointment in Harrison…. Stop.

We aren’t in the playoffs. The team faded, yet again, down the stretch. Murray didn’t mystically all of the sudden become Mahomes. Harrison, though def not perfect and not the iron-clad immediate HOFer that some expected, actually had a damn good year and showed a ton of promise. No, he wasn’t the best rookie this year, let alone this decade. He’s got work to put in as far as beating press coverage, coming back to the ball, fighting to win contested catches and breaking tackles, amongst plenty of other things. He did, however have a better statistical year than plenty of other guys who turned out to be good. His size, speed, agility, work ethic, intelligence and character, all main components to the consensus high opinion of him pre-draft, were just as good as expected.

The results of my 2-1/2 minute google search showed his first year to be better than that of:
Fitz
Marvin Harrison Sr
Tyreek Hill
Cooper Kupp
Devonte Adams
Ceedee Lamb
Deandre Hopkins
Stefon Diggs
Deebo Samuel

Maybe he’ll never as good be Amon-ta St Brown, Jamar Chase or Malik Nabers. Time will tell. This season, however, was not a sign that he can’t be. Chase was reunited with his college quarterback, St Brown had a rookie RB and a not yet great Hockenson as the only other weapons and Nabers was option 1-5 for New York this year. None of those three had 1 let alone 2 other offensive skill position players as good as McBride or Conner to compete with for looks and touches their rookie year. Jaylen Waddle had 100+ catches and 1000+ yards his rookie year when his running back was my Uncle Remis’ plumber and the only other WR whose name people know was Devante Parker. The following offseason, the team signed Tyreek Hill. Waddle played more games and more snaps in 2022 but finished with 30 less catches. Since then, his receptions have dropped ever year. His yardage increased the next year but, I think it’s fair to say, that was due in part due to Hill’s presence and Waddle having a year of NFL experience under his belt to help exploit the defenses not prioritizing him. This stuff could be spun multiple ways, I know.


I don't know how anybody with a straight face can say his speed was as good as expected? The whole year the only deep balls he got were plays where someone fell down and left him wide open. The one thing everyone has said about him this year is he looked faster in college than he did in the NFL. I suspect it's a combo of him thinking too much, and he's not very physical and NFL CB's didn't just let him run downfield, they weren't afraid of chucking him coming off the LOS.

I thought he had a good year, not nearly as good as I expected or the team needed. Wasn't all his fault, but it's reality he wasn't as good as we needed him to be.
 

BACH

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I think this MHJ bashing is a joke TBH.
He ranked as the 10th best rookie by cbs and 11th best rookie by pff - yet people are disappointed because two other rookie WR did better.

The fact that two other rookies produced more had no impact on MHJ's development.

Nabers was the #1 weapon on his team, Thomas was the #1 weapon on his team. MHJ was the #3 weapon on his team.

He outperformed basicly all elite WRs as a rookie.

Chill! Relax! Nothing indicates that he will not be an elite WR
 
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