Plenty of fans celebrated when the Kansas City Chiefs signed Marquise 'Hollywood' Brown last season. He was supposed to be the speedy playmaker and deep-play threat they had lost since Tyreek Hill left the team, giving Patrick Mahomes another explosive weapon.
That hasn't been the case so far. He missed most of his first year with the team with an injury, only making a couple of regular-season appearances before being a non-factor in the playoffs. The Chiefs still brought him back for this season, and they haven't gotten much from him, either.
Marquise 'Hollywood' Brown Hasn't Been a Factor This Season
The Chiefs entered this season knowing that WR1 Rashee Rice was going to be suspended. Also, with Father Time seemingly catching up to Travis Kelce last season, it would be up to second-year pro Xavier Worthy and Brown to lead the way early on. Then, Worthy suffered an injury just a couple of snaps into the season, all but putting more weight on Brown's shoulders.
Unfortunately, that didn't translate into impressive production. Brown was targeted a game-high 16 times in the season opener, and he turned ten receptions into 99 yards and no scores. Fast forward to today, and he's only been targeted more than six times once more this season.
Through the first nine games of the season, Brown is up to 34 catches on 53 targets for 389 yards and four touchdowns. That's not necessarily bad, but he was supposed to be a big-play threat, yet he's averaging just over eleven yards per catch.
The Chiefs need an explosive wide receiver who can thrive in vertical routes and be Mahomes' target in big plays, like Hill or Marques Valdez-Scantling. Brown has failed to live up to that responsibility in his two years in Kansas City.
Granted, he was always expected to be the third wide receiver in the pecking order, but the Chiefs needed him to step up multiple times because of Rice's suspension and Worthy's injury, and that wasn't the case.
To put it in context, Tyquan Thornton has almost as many receiving yards (311) and touchdowns (3) as Brown despite having less than half of his receptions (14). That should tell Andy Reid all there is to know about who to play more and who to get off the field. Brown has played the second-most snaps among wide receivers on the team (334), and he's not giving them much right now.