Have we all caught our breath after that first round of the NFL Draft? That may have been the most active and nonsensical draft in the last decade. Mocks were ruined quickly, and most notably, player trades happened two times.
The madness started when the Baltimore Ravens traded former first-round pick Marquise “Hollywood” Brown to the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals sent over their first-round pick, 23rd overall, after the receivers made up six of the first 16 picks. Cardinal head coach Kliff Kingsbury mentioned the offense dropping off after the Deandre Hopkins injury for the move. Once Hopkins went down last year, you could see the offense struggle. That shouldn’t happen anymore.
The second trade of the night that had everyone losing their mind involved a Torry Dondy client who wasn’t Deebo Samuel but rather A.J. Brown. The Tennessee Titans sent Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles for pick 18, which they used on Treylon Burks. Burks has drawn player comps to A.J. Brown, so what this says is the Titans didn’t want to pay Brown. Now they get a similar player for much cheaper.
Where does this have the dust settling from a fantasy perspective? Not great either way, if we are being honest.
The Eagles have A.J. Brown in Fantasy Purgatory
This is a less than ideal landing spot, let’s be honest.
A.J. Brown goes from one run-first offense to another for starters. Second, he goes from Ryan Tannehill, who was okay for fantasy purposes, to Jalen Hurts. Hurts is a fine quarterback from an NFL standpoint. However, as far as providing fantasy support, he is a nightmare.
For example, Devonta Smith last year had 104 targets as a rookie. He had a catch rate of 61.5%, which should’ve been higher if not for Hurts’ accuracy. He only was able to gain 916 yards and scored five touchdowns. With Brown arriving now, those numbers are sure to plateau, and what can we possibly expect from him in return? A.J. Brown saw a major stock drop in my book from this move.
Too Many Mouths to Feed in the Desert?
This trade has me way more excited on paper. Why? We get a reunion between Sooner teammates Kyler Murray and Hollywood Brown.
Those two had one college season together and had a very fruitful relationship. Murray earned a Heisman Trophy, and Brown garnered a whopping 75 receptions, 1,318 yards, and ten touchdowns. If they can revive even a sliver of that, they could have something special in the desert. Hopkins’ presence will make it hard to cover everyone on the field, so it could be explosive even if Brown gets over the defense three or four times a game.
Now, for the bad angle of things from this NFL Draft trade.
The Cardinals are a pass-happy team but are they pass happy enough to support Deandre Hopkins, A.J. Green, Rondale Moore, Zach Ertz, and Brown? I don’t think an offense in the league could do that, but Kliff Kingsbury is certainly going to try. My advice, sell any Marquise Brown shares you have while he has that cheap boost from being reunited with Murray.
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