Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes appeared on ESPN’s SportsCenter on March 16 and expressed his excitement over the Chiefs signing wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown.
“He just brings a ton of dynamic playmaking ability and I think just being able to add a guy like that who’s ready to come in and work and be hungry,” Mahomes said of Brown, as transcribed by Bleacher Report. “I’ve already talked to him. Going to be a lot of throwing sessions in our future and we’re trying to keep this thing rolling. We’re going to win the soccer championship here with the women’s soccer team [the NWSL’s Kansas City Current] and then we’re going to try to go back to that Super Bowl again.”
Chiefs Graded Highly for Marquise Brown Signing
PFF’s Brad Spielberger gave the Chiefs an A+ for signing Brown based on his contract and fit in Kansas City’s offense.
“Darnell Mooney’s contract figured to be a great benchmark for Brown, with both players serving as great intermediate separators with solid deep speed — but also having missed time with minor injuries over the past two seasons,” Spielberger wrote. “This is clearly Brown betting on himself with a one-year flier where if he balls out with Patrick Mahomes, he can sign a contract for a whole lot more. It’s a great idea for all parties. The rich get richer in Kansas City.”
The release of Marquez Valdes-Scantling on February 28 left a need for speed within Kansas City’s offense. The addition of Brown fills that void, but he brings much more to the Chiefs’ offense than just speed.
As a player who is capable of playing out wide and in the slot, Brown can win at all three levels of the field but succeeds the most on intermediate and deep routes.
According to Matt Harmon of Reception Perception, the routes Brown had the highest success rate with during the 2023 season among the ones he ran the most were out routes (88.9%), post routes (81.5%), dig routes (79.5%), and curl routes (78%).
As a team that struggled to make plays downfield consistently during the 2023 season, Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and head coach Andy Reid should be able to scheme up ways to get Brown open downfield to help fix that issue in 2024.
Tyreek Hill Only WR Faster Than Marquise Brown Since 2020
According to Next Gen Stats, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill is the only player who has consistently run faster routes than Brown since 2020.
Hill has reached 20+ miles per hour on 73 routes during that timeframe, per NGS, which is No. 1 in the NFL. Brown is No. 2 on that list with 33 routes run at over 20+ MPH.
That’s a clear indication of how much speed Brown — who ran a 4.27 40-yard dash at his Oklahoma Pro Day — brings to Kansas City’s offense.
As it currently stands, the Chiefs’ wide receiver room consists of Brown, Rashee Rice, Kadarius Toney, Skyy Moore, Justin Watson, Montrell Washington, Cornell Powell, Justyn Ross, Shi Smith, Anthony Miller, and Jacob Copeland.
Though Brown fills a need for the Chiefs on offense, expect the team to continue to add to their receiver room via free agency and/or the draft in April.
