Kansas City just won Super Bowl III last season with an army of suspects. Now, the Chiefs added playmakers to the passing game and made their offense even better. Then again, stopping Patrick Mahomes in 2024 may be difficult.
Late Thursday night, Kansas City signed receiver Marquise Brown to a one-year, $11 million contract. Brown wasn't the prize of the free agent class, but he's a solid addition to a receiving corps that needs help.
Brown joins Travis Kelce and Laci Rice to form a trio of powerful weapons in Mahomes' passing game. This was clearly a great destination for Brown, who should be considered a high-end No. 3 fantasy receiver in every league. Brown is worth drafting early in the sixth round in any format.
Brown will finish his down season with the Cardinals in 2023. He averaged a career-low 9.1 PPR points on 100 targets for 574 yards, 51 catches, and four touchdowns.
He played the first half of the season without Kyler Murray, who was recovering from a torn ACL. Then, in the third game after Murray returned, Brown injured his heel and was placed on injured reserve.
Brown overachieved in 2022, his first season at Arizona, with 709 yards, 67 catches, and three touchdowns on 107 targets in 12 games, scoring 12.4 PPR points per game. He got off to a great start with a healthy Murray, scoring at least 20 PPR points in three of his first five games.
In 2021, his final season in Baltimore, Brown had a career year with 13.7 PPR points per game, 91 catches, 1,008 yards, and six touchdowns on 146 targets. Hopefully this is a fantasy piece like this from Brown in his 2024.
He's played with solid quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson and Murray during his career, but he's the best passer to pair with Mahomes. That's clearly a positive. And Mahomes should love throwing to Brown on the field.
We'll see if Brown can surpass Rice as the No. 1 receiver, and the Chiefs may also want to limit Kelce's snaps during the regular season to keep him fresh for the playoffs. do not have. Kelce turns 35 in October.
I haven't changed Kelce's fantasy value at all, and he's my No. 2 tight end behind Sam LaPorta. However, with Brown on the roster, Rice will be demoted.
I was ranking Rice as the No. 1 fantasy receiver before the addition of Brown, but now I should consider Rice as a high-end No. 2 option. I still like him as Kansas City's best receiver, but the earliest they can draft Rice is in the fourth round.
The addition of Brown is enough for me to elevate Mahomes to the No. 3 quarterback spot behind Jackson. Mahomes will slot in behind Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts.
Mahomes just had the worst fantasy season of his career, scoring 20.1 points per game. He passed for 4,183 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions, and added 389 rushing yards.
He suffered from drops from Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney and Skye Moore, and was sometimes frustrated watching the Chiefs' offense. Somehow Kansas City was able to win the Super Bowl thanks to an outstanding defense, Isaiah Pacheco's improved run game, and still magic from Mahomes and Kelce (Rice's great run late in the season).
Things got better for Mahomes on Thursday night with the addition of Brown. And Brown's fantasy value improved even more after signing with the Chiefs.
