Chiefs Roster: Marquise Brown brings speed, strong routes to offense

For the final two seasons, the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs haven’t had a large receiver attain the 1,000-yard mark — and 2023 was the primary season since 2014 that the group didn’t have a single pass-catcher attain that threshold.

So on this offseason, it felt like including a big-name free-agent wideout would have been one in every of basic supervisor Brett Veach’s greatest priorities. Via the opening week of free company, one high receiver after one other went off the market. However all alongside, the Chiefs had been centered on a participant who was arguably the strongest match amongst all the highest veterans on the place: Marquise “Hollywood” Brown.

On Thursday evening, Kansas Metropolis signed the previous big-play risk for the Arizona Cardinals and Baltimore Ravens to a one-year, $7 million contract with as much as $4 million in incentives, organising the previous first-round decide to make use of the approaching season as a “prove-it” marketing campaign earlier than he subsequent hits the open market on the age of 27.

Brown’s skillset matches very properly with what the group wants from a beginning extensive receiver. Let’s see how he may enhance the Chiefs’ passing assault.

Velocity, velocity, velocity

Brown’s participant profile begins with exceptional velocity. At Oklahoma Professional Day earlier than the 2019 NFL Draft, Brown ran a 4.27-second 40-yard sprint. That lengthy velocity reveals up on deep move routes, making him the logical candidate to take over because the group’s main deep risk following the discharge of Marquez Valdes-Scantling. In Arizona, Brown lined up as an out of doors receiver on 72% of his passing snaps.

When given a free launch, Brown explodes into his routes — after which continues to achieve velocity as he heads downfield on vertical patterns. His high velocity can remove the ten or extra yards of cushion exterior cornerbacks have a tendency to present him on the snap — and destroy the angles taken by deep safeties.

When he’s confronted with tighter protection on the snap, Brown reveals the short toes and sudden actions he must get cornerbacks out of stability. That can provide him a step on a defender — and prevents them from taking part in too aggressively, since an overstep can result in a blown protection and an enormous acquire.

That’s the concern {that a} deep risk ought to instill in protection defenders; it’s an asset that the receiver (and the offense) can make the most of. Whereas Valdes-Scantling had safety-pushing velocity, he was unable to construct a wider route tree from there.

Brown, nonetheless, can use his deep velocity to create open home windows on shorter, breaking routes. On comeback routes to the sideline, he does a superb job of promoting a deep sample with a number of gear shifts to maintain cornerbacks on their heels. This provides him extra methods to win on the skin; he can do greater than merely get behind the final line of move protection.

Route working in any respect three ranges

Like Valdes-Scantling, Brown is harmful on deep routes — however there’s a lot extra to his skillset. His velocity is complemented by quickness and acceleration which makes him arduous to cowl on quick and intermediate routes, too.

On crossing patterns — a staple within the Chiefs’ passing assault — Brown will get into his route quick and takes the correct angles to create separation towards man protection. On the identical time, he reveals consciousness of zone defenders by decelerating into throwing home windows and securing the completion as protection closes in.

It’s not simply Brown’s potential to navigate the center of the sector. It’s additionally his willingness to enter site visitors that provides him a wider vary of talents from the skin. He might not play via contact like some others do — however he isn’t afraid of it, both.

That makes him a assured receiver on curl and dig routes, together with different in-breaking patterns the place a head-hunting security may be ready to take his head off. Brown received’t be a continuing tackle-breaker, however he’s fast and slippery sufficient to generally earn yards after contact.

In that very same vein, Brown is a strong possibility for perimeter screens and different quick throws into house. He reads blocks properly — and in open house, is shifty sufficient to place plenty of stress on pursuing defenders.

Enjoying energy

Listed at 5 toes 9 and 180 kilos, Brown will naturally have much less taking part in energy than another wideouts — however not as a lot much less as you would possibly suppose. He’s a troublesome, fearless participant who has persevered via accidents for spurts of his profession.

On the sector, this reveals up when he competes for throws in tight protection. He assaults the ball at its highest level within the air, working via (or over) a bodily defender. He’s pure at boxing out defenders by sealing off their palms. That is in sharp distinction to Valdes-Scantling, who couldn’t go after the ball within the air.

The underside line

Brown is a superb match for the Chiefs. He has the distinctive velocity that the offense values, together with route versatility that provides the receiving corps unpredictability in formations and personnel.

In Kansas Metropolis, he’ll make performs in many various methods — and undoubtedly raises each the ceiling and ground of the unit in 2024.