Kansas City just won Super Bowl LVIII this past season with a suspect receiving corps. Now, the Chiefs added a playmaker in their passing game to make the offense even better. Once again, it could be tough to stop Patrick Mahomes in 2024.
Late Thursday night, Kansas City signed receiver Marquise Brown to a one-year, $11 million deal. While he wasn't the prize of the free agent class, Brown is a solid addition to a receiving corps in need of help.
Brown joins Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice to form a formidable trio of weapons in the passing game for Mahomes. This was clearly a great destination for Brown, who should be considered a high-end No. 3 Fantasy receiver in all leagues. Brown is worth drafting as early as Round 6 in all formats.
Brown is coming off a down season in 2023 with the Cardinals. He averaged a career-low 9.1 PPR points per game with 51 catches for 574 yards and four touchdowns on 100 targets.
He played the first half of the season without Kyler Murray, who was coming back from a torn ACL. And then three games into Murray's return, Brown suffered a heel injury and was placed on injured reserve.
Brown was better in 2022 in his first season in Arizona at 12.4 PPR points per game with 67 catches for 709 yards and three touchdowns on 107 targets in 12 games. He got off to a great start with a healthy Murray and scored at least 20 PPR points in three of his first five outings.
And in 2021, his final season in Baltimore, Brown had a career year at 13.7 PPR points per game with 91 catches for 1,008 yards and six touchdowns on 146 targets. Hopefully, this is the kind of Fantasy production we'll get from Brown in 2024.
While he's been with solid quarterbacks in his career with Lamar Jackson and Murray, this is the best passer he'll be paired with in Mahomes. That's clearly a positive. And Mahomes should love throwing to Brown down the field.
We'll see if Brown can surpass Rice as the No. 1 receiver, and the Chiefs also might want to limit Kelce's snaps during the regular season to keep him fresh for the playoffs. Kelce will be 35 in October.
I'm not changing Kelce's Fantasy value at all, and he's my No. 2 tight end behind Sam LaPorta. But Rice gets a downgrade with Brown now on the roster.
I had Rice ranked as a No. 1 Fantasy receiver before the addition of Brown, and now you have to view Rice as a high-end No. 2 option. I still like him as the best receiver in Kansas City, but the earliest I would draft Rice is Round 4.
Brown's addition is enough for me to move Mahomes to the No. 3 quarterback spot ahead of Jackson. Mahomes will slot in behind Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts.
Mahomes just had the worst Fantasy season of his career at 20.1 points per game. He passed for 4,183 yards, 27 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, and he also added 389 rushing yards.
He was plagued by drops from Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore, and it was frustrating at times to watch the Chiefs on offense. Somehow, behind a standout defense, improved run game from Isiah Pacheco and still the magic of Mahomes and Kelce (with a nice late-season run from Rice), Kansas City managed to win the Super Bowl.
Things got better for Mahomes on Thursday night with the addition of Brown. And Brown's Fantasy value got better by signing with the Chiefs.
