The Kansas City Chiefs made a brilliant move signing Marquise Brown during the 2024 offseason. Brown, a former first-round pick of the Ravens in 2019, has been a productive receiver throughout his five-year NFL career.
We know this team was desperate for help at the position. Last year, Patrick Mahomes received minimal assistance from pass-catchers not named Travis Kelce or Rashee Rice. Skyy Moore had a dismal second year with the team, and Kansas City’s experiment with Kadarius Toney hasn’t worked out.
Somehow the Chiefs have been back-to-back Super Bowl winners without Tyreek Hill. However, the lack of explosion in the passing games is noticeable. Brown is going to help make up for some of this.
Brown’s best season came with the Ravens in 2021 when he racked up 91 receptions for 1,008 yards and 6 touchdowns. But don’t assume this is the receiver the Chiefs are getting in 2024.
The Chiefs need more than Marquise Brown to fix their WR corps
Marquise Brown has taken a step back in each of his past two seasons with the Arizona Cardinals — both in terms of grades and production. In 2023, Brown saw the worst season of his NFL career as he recorded just 51 receptions on 101 targets for 574 yards and 4 touchdowns. His 5.7 yards per target was a cringeworthy number, and Brown proved to be one of the least efficient starting receivers in the league.
Granted, Brown was playing without QB Kyler Murray for half the season but failed to make a difference for his team last year. The former first-round pick was hardly noticeable most weeks.
Brown is still a quality football player who could revive his career with the greatest quarterback in the game this season, but this isn’t the second coming of Tyreek Hill for the Chiefs. Based on everything we know about Brown since coming into the league in 2019, he will never be more than a WR2 and he’s not consistent game-to-game. There’s no reason to expect that to suddenly change in Year 6.
Pairing Brown with Rashee Rice is a great start, but there’s still more work to do here. As good as he was as a rookie, Rice profiles as a WR2 in the NFL. This means that Kansas City is still lacking a true WR1 option.
With Travis Kelce still going strong, this isn’t an imminent issue. Mahomes can continue to funnel the offense through his security blanket and top target. However, ‘Father Time’ will catch up with the future Hall of Fame tight end at some point as Kelce turns 35 years old during the 2024 season.
Options to improve the wide receiver room in free agency are running thin, and there’s nobody out there who is going to move the needle for the offense. That’s why taking a wide receiver early in the NFL Draft could be the way to go.
The 2024 NFL Draft is top-heavy with outstanding receiver prospects. Despite holding the 32nd overall selection in the first round, the Chiefs could still land a difference-making receiver to pair with Rashee Rice and Marquise Brown. Some of the top names who could be available include players like Texas’ Adonai Mitchell, Georgia’s Ladd McConkey, and Oregon’s Troy Franklin.
Even a Super Bowl-winning team like the Chiefs has plenty of positions they could address early in the draft, but for a team that revolves around Patrick Mahomes and the passing game, they need to make sure that the best QB in the business has every weapon at his disposal.
Marquise Brown is undoubtedly an upgrade over every Chiefs receiver from 2023 outside of Rice, but this is such a low bar. Without an upgrade in the NFL Draft, Brown’s presence won’t be enough to fix Kansas City’s lackluster wide receiver room in 2024.
