Mel Kiper Jr. encourages Arizona Cardinals to draft Marvin Harrison Jr: 'Don't overthink this'

The Arizona Cardinals own the fourth pick of the NFL Draft. And with Kyler Murray, they don’t need a quarterback. But other teams do. Hmmm. Do they trade the selection to pile up choices and players? Or do they call out a name?

Mel Kiper, the long-time NFL Draft analyst for ESPN, told the Cardinals “don’t overthink this.” You don’t have to pick a quarterback. But be nice to Murray and select Marvin Harrison Jr. Because in Kiper’s mind, Harrison could be akin to a former Cardinals superstar.

“You’re staring … Larry Fitzgerald right in the face with Marvin Harrison Jr,” Kiper said this week as he introduced his latest mock draft on the ESPN airwaves. “History can repeat itself there.”

Arizona relied on the third pick of the 2004 NFL Draft to select Fitzgerald, who was then a can’t miss receiver from Pitt. Fitzgerald still is beloved in Arizona. He played his entire career with the Cardinals, earning trips to the Pro Bowl 11 times. When he finished his career, the receiver boasted the second-most catches (1,432) and yards (17,492) in NFL history. He’ll be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2026, and he probably can book that trip to Canton on the first ballot.

Kiper: Cardinals should resist NFL Draft day urge to trade

So if you’re the Cardinals, as Kiper believes, you don’t overthink what you’ll do on NFL Draft day. After the first three teams select Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye, break the quarterback string and go with Harrison at No. 4. But chances are, there will be other teams calling the Cardinals about a trade in an effort to land J.J. McCarthy, the former quarterback from Michigan.

The Cardinals traded out of their pick last April, dealing with the Houston Texans.

Meanwhile, Kiper isn’t the only draft analyst to mention Harrison and Fitzgerald in the same sentence.

“I had a GM tell me in Orlando that Marvin Harrison Jr. was Larry Fitzgerald 2.0.,” said NFL analyst Jordan Schultz, during an interview on The Herd. Schultz said the GM mentioned Harrison’s “pedigree. He’s a pro. (LSU receiver) Malik Nabers might be Ja’Marr Chase, maybe a higher upside. But I think the ceiling – I should say the floor for Harrison is so high that you know exactly what you’re getting.”

The quarterbacks should be the buzziest plot line of this year’s NFL Draft. But the receivers will be a big story as well. While four quarterbacks may go in the top 10 — even the top four — three receivers should be there as well. There’s Harrison along with Nabers and Rome Odunze, the former Washington star. No one is quite sure of the order the receivers will go, only that none of them will fall out of the top 10.

Remember, the NFL Draft kicks off April 25. To read all of On3’s draft coverage, click it here.