During the offseason, we’ll be taking a close look at Philadelphia Eagles players of interest who are currently on the roster but we may not know a lot about just yet. In this edition, we’ll take a look at free agent acquisition WR Marquise “Hollywood” Brown.
PREVIOUS PLAYER REVIEWS
Dontayvion Wicks
Brown is a seven-year NFL vet who was a first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. He was actually a player commonly projected in that draft to the Eagles, who instead selected Andre Dillard. Brown played for three seasons with the Ravens, two with the Cardinals, and two with the Chiefs. His career stats:
| Marquise Brown | Rec | Yards | YPC | TD |
| 2019 (BAL) | 46 | 585 | 12.7 | 7 |
| 2020 (BAL) | 58 | 769 | 13.3 | 8 |
| 2021 (BAL) | 91 | 1008 | 11.1 | 6 |
| 2022 (ARZ) | 67 | 709 | 10.6 | 3 |
| 2023 (ARZ) | 51 | 574 | 11.3 | 4 |
| 2024 (KC) | 9 | 91 | 10.1 | 0 |
| 2025 (KC) | 49 | 587 | 12.0 | 5 |
| CAREER | 371 | 4322 | 11.6 | 33 |
His 49 catches in 2025 came on 74 targets, which we cut up below:
Observations
• Is Brown a big-play threat? Brown ran a 4.27 40 time at his pro day in 2019, and is a player known for his speed, however, he has averaged just 11.6 yards per catch over his career. Still, the Eagles view him as a down-the-field threat.
“When we talk about Hollywood, there have been times in our offense that we have had that vertical skill set, but also get separation at the top of his routes,” Howie Roseman said at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix a couple weeks ago. “And we had that a little – I was looking at our team in 2017, I thought Nelson Agholor did a great job of that, bringing that to the team. I think we look at 2022, Quez Watkins did a good job of that.
“I think the 2024 team was constructed a little differently, but I think that really fits the skill set of our quarterback.”
The Eagles seem to want to go back to their third receiver having the ability to run down the field fast to open up the intermediate areas of the field for their good receivers. Also, Roseman’s point that speed guys complement Jalen Hurts’ game makes sense, since Hurts is a good deep ball thrower.
But can Brown actually make plays down the field?
Well, after cutting up all of his targets in 2025, Brown’s average yards per catch were affected by a Chiefs offense that has become increasingly dink and dunk over the last few years, as opposing defenses have sought to keep everything underneath and make them drive the field. Brown made a lot of catches immediately after the snap near the line of scrimmage, which obviously hurt those numbers. It certainly didn’t help when the Chiefs lost Patrick Mahomes with a torn ACL at the end of their miserable season, and Brown was trying to catch passes from Gardner Minshew, Chris Oladokun, and Shane Buechele.
But Brown did also have 7 receptions of 20+ yards and 3 receptions of 40+ yards. So I don’t necessarily believe the Eagles are wrong to view him as a deep threat, despite his unimpressive yards per catch average.
• Yards after catch: Brown isn’t going to break many tackles, but one thing that showed up consistently in the video above is the ability to make the first guy miss immediately after he makes a catch, even if he doesn’t get much separation.
• Sideline awareness: DeVonta Smith is a sideline toe-tap master, and the Eagles added another receiver in Brown who also has great sideline awareness and body control. Here’s an outstanding TD reception by Brown in the back of the end zone against the Cowboys from last season:
He made several impressive sideline catches in 2025.
• Hands: Brown had a drop on his very first target of the season, as shown in the targets video above. He did not have any the rest of the season, and actually held onto a few passes after taking decent hits. He has good hands.
Brown’s fit with the Eagles
In the past the Eagles have taken fliers on sub-4.3 speed guys like Parris Campbell and John Ross. However, unlike those guys, Brown is a legitimate NFL wide receiver. In addition to his speed, he has good hands, he makes difficult sideline catches, and he can absorb hits while making catches in the middle of the field, and he has glimpses of “make you miss” ability after the catch.
When the Eagles employed Quez Watkins as their WR3, opposing defenses were forced to respect his deep speed, which opened up the intermediate areas of the field… well, at least until defenses began to realize that Watkins wasn’t going to make plays down the field when the ball came his way. Brown can bring that element back to the Eagles’ offense, but actually make opposing defenses pay if they fall asleep or disregard him as a deep threat.
After watching Brown’s targets, I’m a little more encouraged by how he can contribute in the Eagles’ offense, again, likely as a field stretching WR3 who can work outside or in the slot.
Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Jimmy’s RSS feed to your feed reader
Credit: Source link