What got lost in all the celebration over the return of Tank Dell is the fact that Marvin Harrison Jr. is very much an essential part of the immediate future of the Houston Texans' wide receiving group as well. Head coach DeMeco Ryans was even asked about Harrison's increased usage in the offense this week at the podium as Houston is gearing up for Sunday's pre-bye showdown with the New York Giants.
“Yes, I expect Marvin, his workload to continue to increase," began Ryans' glowing review of Harrison. He then added, "He handled all those really well [his limited touches against Jacksonville], did a really great job. So he’ll continue to get more.”
Ryans was referring to Harrison's sub-20 reps against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, where the former Arizona Cardinal accumulated three catches (on five targets) for 34 yards and multiple key first down receptions. While it wasn't a Hall of Fame performance by any stretch, it still showed a glimpse of the kind of premium plug-and-play potential that Harrison presents to the Texans' aerial attack, especially considering he'd only been in the playbook for about a week.
The Houston Texans are looking forward to even more production out of Marvin Harrison Jr.
Ryans continued his compliments of Harrison at the podium by saying,
“Marvin is a very smart guy. He’s picked up things very seamlessly. We’re moving him around a lot of different places in our offense. Our coaches can put him in a lot of different spots, and he’s handled himself really well.”
Houston had a lot of success with shifting Harrison across the formation against the Jaguars, allowing him to find either favorable matchups in the secondary or soft spots in coverage to just await a pass from quarterback C.J. Stroud. Being able to line him up at either the X or Z positions, as well as occasionally bunching him with other playmakers on the same side of varying play sets can presumably continue the trend of productive aerial artistry with Harrison.
Even though Dell's arrival will be the biggest news of the weekend, Harrison's presence alongside Dell should have Texans fans salivating at the kind of gaudy output that the offense could accomplish moving forward. Although, against a Giants secondary that currently ranks as the fifth-best unit in the NFL (190.2 YPG) through six weeks, Harrison's impact on the roster will definitely be tested.
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