Marquise Brown Fantasy Overview

2024 Summary

Did You Even Play?

Brown sustained a right shoulder injury in the Chiefs’ first exhibition game. The team initially expected him to miss just “some” time, but September brought the revelation that his sternoclavicular injury would need surgery.

Brown didn’t see game action until Week 16. He played just 27% of the offensive snaps in that return, 40.3% the following week – and then 65% or more in each of the three playoff contests.

But Brown totaled just 14 receptions across those five outings and averaged only 10.1 yards per reception. He has averaged 4.4 receptions per game and 11.6 yards per catch for his career.

How’d You Fare Before 2024?

That ended a string of four straight seasons with at least 100 targets and 51 catches for Brown. He averaged 4.3 catches and 50.6 yards per game over his first five seasons.

Brown’s weakest year within that span came with the 2023 Cardinals, who missed QB Kyler Murray until Week 10. That meant just three full Murray-Brown games before the wideout played limited roles in weeks 13 and 15, and then missed the final three games.

Take out that 2023 campaign, and Brown’s career numbers improve to:

• 4.5 receptions per game
• 52.9 yards per game
• 61.8% catch rate (vs. 59.6% career)

Injury History

The 2024 shoulder injury wasn’t the start of Brown’s durability issues. Since entering the league, he has dealt with:

• A 2019 ankle sprain that cost him two games
• A 2020 knee sprain that nagged him but didn’t cost any games
• A 2021 hamstring injury that cost him a lot of camp time but didn’t affect his regular season
• A 2021 thigh bruise that cost him a game
• A 2022 fracture in his left foot that cost him five games (and probably limited his production after he returned)
• A pair of December 2023 heel injuries that limited his playing time before ending his season prematurely

Brown also had a Lisfranc injury to his left foot in college that required surgery to insert screws. He had those screws removed just after his rookie season.

The history of lower-body issues has undoubtedly played a role in Brown having to settle for one-year deals each of the past two offseasons.

2025 Expectations

Projected Role & Competition

The last time Kansas City had three WRs play at least 50% of the snaps came in 2021. Tyreek Hill was the only who to reach 60% playing time, and only Hill and Travis Kelce exceeded 83 targets.

The 2019 Chiefs had Sammy Watkins at 70.5%, Demarcus Robinson at 70%, and Hill at 53.6%, thanks primarily to four missed games.

Since Patrick Mahomes took over in 2018, only the 2021 Chiefs have seen three WRs reach 60 targets in a season:

• Hill 159
• Mecole Hardman 83
• Byron Pringle 60

This year’s top trio at WR is probably the best in at least the Mahomes Era. But target volume will be a challenge for Brown.

He does, at least, sport the deepest aDOT among that top three. That should help Brown’s scoring efficiency when he does get the ball.

Supporting Cast

Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy join Brown to fill out that trio, and each brings more reason to believe in his target share than Brown does.

Brown got just $7 million on a one-year deal with K.C. this offseason, same as he got a year before (despite the league-wide salary-cap increase).

TE Travis Kelce heads into his age-36 season, which could push more targets toward the WRs. But he also garnered 35 more targets than anyone else on last year’s team.