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One of the big trades that happened during the 2022 NFL Draft involved the Baltimore Ravens dealing wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown to the Arizona Cardinals for a first-round pick. The move came as a shock to the wideout himself, who just had a career season with the Ravens one year ago.
Re-united with his college quarterback Kyler Murray in Arizona, can Brown take another leap into being a top 20 fantasy wide receiver?
2021 season statistics & fantasy finish
Receiving: Brown caught 91 of 146 targets for 1,008 yards and six touchdowns. When active, he was on the field for 80% of the Ravens’ offensive snaps last season.
Fantasy: Brown finished the regular season as the 22nd ranked fantasy wide receiver in PPR formats. He compiled 226.3 points to the tune of 14.1 fantasy points per game.
Cardinals offseason moves
Along with trading for Brown, the team brought back veteran receiver A.J. Green on a one-year deal and agreed to a three-year contract with tight end Zach Ertz. These will be the top receiving options early on in the year as top wideout DeAndre Hopkins will be suspended for the first six games of the season for violating the league’s PED policy.
The biggest storyline was the contract dispute between the organization and Murray. The two sides agreed to a five-year contract extension at the start of training camp.
2022 best case scenario
Brown and Murray recreates the magic from the latter’s 2018 Heisman season at Oklahoma and becomes one of the most prolific duos in the league. With Hopkins suspended for the first leg of the year, he has the chance to put up serious numbers and thrive in Kliff Kingsbury’s offense in the desert.
2022 worst case scenario
Brown takes a step back this season and doesn’t cross over 1,000 yards like he did the year prior. He was dealing with ankle injury at the start of camp and there’s always a chance that could rear its ugly head during the campaign.
2022 prediction
I‘ll predict that Brown will put up similar numbers as he did with the Ravens last season. The first six weeks will be huge for him in place of Hopkins but it’ll level out once “Nuk” returns. “Hollywood” will be a good WR2/Flex option in most drafts.