Marquise Brown, Oklahoma
Height: 5’9″
Weight: 166 pounds
40-yard dash: N/A
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: N/A
If you took a look at his measurements above, you already know the biggest knock against Brown. He’s less than 170 pounds and is just 5-foot-9 inches tall. That leaves some closing the door on him as nothing more than a gadget player, while others say he’s the exception to the rule. There were no athletic times/measurements for him because he required surgery on his foot to repair a Lisfranc injury. This is surely a knock on his potential in 2019. He’s also a cousin of Antonio Brown, and they are close, which can be considered a good or bad thing based on his recent behavior.
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While at Oklahoma, Brown had a few quarterbacks who are pretty good throwing him the ball, as Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray can sling the ball around the field. Because of that, combined with his talent, he tallied back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons with 17 touchdowns in 25 games. He wasn’t used as a gadget player while at Oklahoma, as he tallied just three rushing attempts in two years.
Size/Versatility: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Despite his smaller stature, he played on the perimeter most of the time. He can be moved around the formation, but using him in a gadget way is essentially removing what he does best, which is get open down the field. He’s also not built to absorb big hits over the middle of the field. There’s no way to escape the fact that he’s small, but his size shouldn’t get too much of a negative grade for the type of player he is. Would a quarterback rather target a massive 6-foot-4 receiver with an 80-inch wingspan who’s got a defender on his back, or a 5-foot-9 receiver who has gained five full yards of separation? I suppose the answer varies on which quarterback you’re asking, but Brown would get plenty of supporters here. In the end, there is no wrong answer, as Tyreek Hill and Mike Evans have both been successful. But the lesson is that just because a wide receiver is smaller, you shouldn’t completely write him off. He’s not going to get an above average grade here, but he’s not going to get severely docked for it, either.
Route Running/Ability to Separate: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Continually seen him with multiple yards of separation from the nearest defender. His route-running on intermediate routes isn’t anything you can’t live without, but once he gets 15 yards into a route, it’s going to be very tough for defenders to stay with him. He’s very aware of his ability to shift gears based on how the defender is positioned. He makes subtle cuts while moving at full speed and it’s easy to see that defenders cannot keep up. The combination of speed and awareness makes separation rather easy for Brown. The biggest question will come when NFL cornerbacks try to get physical with him, as that’s the concern with many of the smaller receivers who enter the league. He has suddenness that allows him to make them miss their push, but he’s likely to see a lot of it. Watching him after the catch, he has amazing stop/start ability, so his route running can likely be top-notch, though he’s far from complete at this time. Still, his ability to separate is elite.
Speed: 5.0 out of 5 stars
He was underthrown a few times by Kyler Murray, which gives you an idea of just how fast he is. While his track speed may be really fast, his game speed is even more impressive. Defenders cannot keep up with his stop/start speed. Watched him stutter-step to sit down in a zone, only to watch the safety take two steps downfield, then watch Brown go hit the “go button” and get past him upfield while gaining three yards of separation.
Hands: 2.0 out of 5 stars
Doesn’t have super-sticky hands that will catch everything. Saw a few balls bounce right off his hands in the game versus Texas. His hands measured in at just nine inches, which ranked as the fourth-smallest of all Combine receivers (48 of them), so it’s not a shock that his hands aren’t sticky. It’s not as if he’s horrible and you’re always worried about him hauling the ball in, as every wide receiver drops balls from time-to-time, but his hands aren’t anything worth pointing out. Fortunately, unless a ball is underthrown, he shouldn’t have to deal with contested catches very often.
Awareness: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Good ball-tracking ability over the shoulder, adjusted well to underthrown balls. He’s also very smart when it comes to manipulating defenders, as he’ll adjust his speed and cuts based on where their eyes are. Think of the defender like a driver looking in their rear-view mirror at Brown, yet he’s continually in their blind spot. Once they realize where he is, he’s likely blown right by them.
After the Catch: 3.0 out of 5 stars
He won’t be breaking any tackles in the NFL at 166 pounds. Instead, he’ll rely on his crazy agility to make defenders miss. He has excellent vision, as he’s seemingly always looking one defender ahead from where he currently is on the field. He can plant his foot in the ground and watch a defender fly by while trying to track him down, allowing him to add more than just a yard or two than most would by simply falling forward. He will go out of bounds to avoid a big hit at times, which, believe it or not, is a good thing.
Potential Landing Spot
There have been a lot of analysts hoping Brown winds up in Kansas City, but having too many chefs in the kitchen isn’t always a good thing. Unless the Chiefs know more about Tyreek Hill‘s looming suspension, it’s tough to see him going there, even though it would be fun. I think he’d be a fun receiver to watch with the Chargers, who just lost Tyrell Williams in free agency. Brown would fit in well with the big Mike Williams and the slot-heavy Keenan Allen. We also know that Philip Rivers has the arm to get the ball downfield to him. If he were to fall to the Saints in the second round, that would be dangerous. I’d put the Patriots down as a darkhorse team to land him.
NFL Comparison
This one is relatively easy and it has to be DeSean Jackson. While the Eagles did try to use Jackson in the slot early in his career, it didn’t take long to realize that he’s best-suited on the perimeter. He’s a game-breaker on the next level and will walk into the NFL with elite separation downfield that makes life easier on his quarterback. Will he have the impact that Jackson has on his quarterbacks? Did you know that every single quarterback Jackson has played with throughout his long career has a higher YPA (yards per attempt) with him than without? Brown isn’t going to be a No. 1 receiver in an offense, but he should have a massive impact on whatever offense he lands on.
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Mike Tagliere is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeTagliereNFL.
