BUY or SELL Marquise Brown?

Featured Article by Dave Kluge from

Marquise Brown spent his first few years in the league on a run-first team. Because of that, he struggled to rack up meaningful stats. But his efficiency and adjusted volume numbers were enough to take notice of. Brown pulled a 27.3% target share as a rookie, the 22nd-highest in the league. He followed those years up with 23.4% and 27.9% target shares. The ability to command targets is one of the best things we can see from a young receiver. And after being traded to Arizona, he continued to draw targets but now on a pass-first team. Prior to his Week 6 injury, Brown was the WR5 in PPR scoring.

"We finally got a glimpse of what Brown could look like in a high-powered passing offense last year, and the result was elite fantasy production."

— Dave Kluge, Footballguys —

Brown and Kyler Murray had an electric connection in college that immediately translated to the pros. Still just 25 years old, Brown has plenty of peak years ahead of him. Looking at the state of the Cardinals could scare some people off, making Brown a valuable trade target. Kyler Murray tore his ACL late in the season, which makes 2023 appear to be a lost year. But if you’re rebuilding, Brown is the exact type of player you want to target.

When Murray is expected to be back and fully healthy in 2024, DeAndre Hopkins and Zach Ertz will likely be off the team. The stage will be set for a 27-year-old Brown to step in as the team’s WR1. Brown, a former first-round pick, is much more than a big-play weapon people perceive him to be. He has developed into a polished receiver who can win routes at every level of the field. Leading up to his injury, Brown was averaging 10.7 targets, 80.8 yards, and 0.5 touchdowns per game. An entire season with that production level would have finished as WR5 this year, behind CeeDee Lamb and just ahead of AJ Brown.

We must remember that Brown came into the league in a bad situation. He suffered a Lisfranc surgery in his final year in college, limiting him as a rookie. Even when healthy in Baltimore, his skillset wasn’t properly utilized as the offense ran through the ground game and tight ends. We finally got a glimpse of what Brown could look like in a high-powered passing offense last year, and the result was elite fantasy production. Still on the right side of the age curve, Brown could have years of WR1 production ahead of him and is being valued as a middling WR2 in dynasty.