If The Redskins Want Elite Speed On Offense Drafting Marquise “Hollywood” Brown Should Be A Priority

Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, WR
School: Oklahoma | Conference: BIG 12
College Experience: Junior | Age: 22
Height / Weight: 5-10 / 168 lbs
Projected Draft Status: 1st or 2nd Round
NFL Comparison: Tyreek Hill

College Statistics

Player Overview

Marquise “Hollywood” Brown got his nickname from announcer Gus Johnson after Brown proceeded to go off for 265 yards and 2 TDs in 2017’s Bedlam. He also comes from a good pedigree. He is the cousin of Pittsburgh Steelers star WR Antonio Brown. Marquise and Antonio have had a relationship since Marquise was a kid. The two talk almost every day and they train together during the offseason. If you can believe it Marquise only got one offer from Utah State after high school. He didn’t gain much interest because he was around 140 lbs wet and most of his touchdowns came on special teams. He sat out a year and enrolled in College of the Canyons junior college. His coaches there set up an ‘audition’ for Brown in front of staff from Oklahoma, USC, Tennessee, Oregon, and many other FBS programs. He proceeded to run a 4.33 40. Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley was sold and said “We weren’t worried about his weight...Once you see him run, you figure out a way to make it work.”. That’s how Hollywood Brown got to Oklahoma and made himself into a household name. Brown brings elite speed, acceleration, and quickness to the football field and has drawn comparisons to Desean Jackson and Tyreek Hill. Brown has no problem taking the tops off defenses the question is if his size will be a detriment to him like it was at the beginning of his collegiate career.

Strengths

• Elite speed, acceleration and quickness.
• Can work all levels of the field and is not just a deep threat. Can play in the slot or on the boundary. Tracks the ball well in space.
• YAC ability and home run threat. Give him a short curl, in, or screen can he take it 50 yards? Check. Let him work the boundary or over the middle exposing zone and man coverage for 20-30 yards? Check. Want to throw a 50-60 yard bomb where he just flat outruns his defender? Check.
• Vision is really good which is a large part about why the above point is a strength. He knows where to go in space with the ball in his hands and is very elusive.

Weaknesses

• He is lighter than Tyreek Hill and even lighter than Desean Jackson. Durability in the NFL will be a question especially in light of his foot injury that he sustained late in the season that made him a non factor in the playoff against Alabama.
• Rarely attacks the ball in the air (in fairness he usually is past his defender so he doesn't have to) but I question his hand strength and natural ability as a catcher. He’s had several big drops because he didn't quite have control or the strength to sustain the catch process. Has a tendency to ‘cup’ catches and pull them into his body rather than being aggressive with the process.
• Physicality and how he will work off press coverage is another question. He was allowed a lot of free releases in the BIG 12.
• Ran a really simple route tree at Oklahoma: The 9, crosser, deep post, screen or short hitch. He may be able to get away with that still in the NFL but anything more complex he will have to work on.

Let’s see his work:

How He Would Fit On The Redskins

I think it goes without saying but I’ll say it anyway. Marquise Brown is the deep threat Redskins fans have been calling for the last few seasons. I think a player like him would answer a lot of questions and put to bed a lot of theories about the wide receivers not being able to separate downfield and / or if the QB is at fault for not trusting his guys enough and being too conservative. With Brown on the field he should command a deep safety or bracketed coverage. He can beat it and should open up a lot more possibilities for big plays down the field. He is the big play. Additionally because of his presence he should allow more possibilities for other receivers on the team. Ideally there would be an open competition for X receiver between Brown and Richardson but knowing this team they would probably just give it to the older higher paid guy. That means Brown could start his career off in the slot and that is not a bad thing especially if there is some creativity in the offense that involves a lot of motion. Brown has a lot to work on as well, namely probably gaining a little weight, working on his route running, and his catching technique but he has the skill set to cause damage in the NFL now.