In assessing this year’s Arizona Cardinals, there is perhaps no more confusing puzzle than the state of the wide receiver room.
Just look at how the 2025 season unfolded for that group.
You can write the first five weeks off as a reference point because Kyler Murray was the starter. With Murray’s proclivity to take off running early in his progression, Michael Wilson — then the clear third option in the passing game — rarely saw the football. That doesn't help create a picture for how the 2026 season may unfold.
In the first three games with both Jacoby Brissett starting and a fully healthy Marvin Harrison Jr., though, the pattern was similar. Harrison out-targeted Wilson, 28 to 15.
But then, Wilson caught fire. With Harrison banged up down the stretch
— he played just 85 snaps over the final eight games — Wilson performed like one of the best receivers in the league, averaging seven catches for 96.9 yards on 11 targets.
The problem, of course, is that Harrison wasn’t healthy. And in the one game where he was mostly healthy, both players saw seven targets. It’s not as if a clear front-runner emerged.
So, what have we learned about the two players early in training camp?
As far as ascertaining a clear number one wide receiver goes: little.
Through two days of 11-on-11 work open to the media, here is how the Cardinals’ pass-catching corps has broken down:
- Trey McBride: 9 targets, 5 catches
- Michael Wilson: 8 targets, 6 catches
- Marvin Harrison Jr.: 8 targets, 6 catches
Now, tracking stats through two days of training camp is, on its face, a ridiculous exercise. The start of the regular season remains nearly seven weeks away, and these sessions are still more about installing Mike LaFleur’s new offense than anything else.
But if you’re looking for someone to emerge as the Cardinals’ top wide receiver, that hasn’t happened. And when asked about the competition, LaFleur cracked a joke about Julio Jones once being his WR1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 with the 2016 Atlanta Falcons — without providing an answer for the subject at hand, the 2026 Arizona Cardinals.
“You just try to put them in those positions," he said. "Who's one is number one on the progression for that play. You're trying to do that balancing act of, hey, we've got talent, don't overthink this thing, don't try to get too scheme-y, let these guys go out and play.”
The desire to place a WR1 label on either Harrison or Wilson, though, hides what the real difference might be at the position.
Back in June, LaFleur compared Harrison’s role to Davante Adams’ job as the X receiver with the Los Angeles Rams, where LaFleur spent the past three seasons as the offensive coordinator. He then said that Wilson will play a role more similar to Puka Nacua as the Z receiver.
In training camp, we’ve gotten a clearer picture of what that will look like.
“In this offense, the Z actually plays way tighter to the core on offensive plays and in the run game,” Wilson told The Republic. “So you're at the point of attack … on a lot of run plays.”
That means Wilson is now a key part of the run game, regularly inserting through the offensive line to block linebackers and safeties. On one play last week, he even took a handoff on a jet sweep — the same type of motion that could be used to change the defense’s rules on a passing play.
The overarching point is that, before the ball is snapped, each look could lead to a run or pass. And with Wilson being used in such a versatile role, the Cardinals hope that defenses will occasionally lose track of him, creating opportunities for explosive receptions.
“The marriage of the run and pass, that's gonna be a strength for us going on in the season,” Wilson said. “And so with those insert motions, through the tackles and the tight ends, you're able to get a lot of free catches. Because the system is running through the Z.”
Harrison, meanwhile, is most often split out wide as the X receiver. That’s not a hard and fast rule — on Sunday, July 26, he beat Sean Murphy-Bunting for a touchdown on a slot fade — but it is his primary responsibility.
Under previous offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, Wilson estimated that the X receiver was the first read on “80% of pass plays.” Now, that picture is muddled.
So, who is the first read most often?
“I don't really know,” Wilson said. “Honestly.”
For the Cardinals, that is part of the point. They want to confuse the picture for opposing defenses. Confusing the picture for onlookers is simply a side effect.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Early training camp lessons for Marvin Harrison Jr., Michael Wilson
