Last season, a significant reason why the Kansas City Chiefs struggled occasionally was due to a lackluster wide receiver room. This time around, the back-to-back Super Bowl champs hope the group is a reason for success.
General manager Brett Veach added a pair of high-profile names to the depth chart, with the proven one already making his presence felt. Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, who signed with Kansas City on a one-year deal, is off to a tremendous start at training camp.
With the conditions getting more and more challenging, the Chiefs’ offense continues to make progress at the Missouri Western State University campus. The Brown effect, a driving force in that development, is twofold. First and foremost, the former first-round pick is stepping up as a leader during a much-needed time. Secondly, his skill set fits perfectly in head coach Andy Reid’s offense.
Tight end Travis Kelce addressed the former on Saturday. The future Hall of Fame pass-catcher speaks of Brown as the consummate professional, citing his work ethic as something that rubs off on everyone else at camp.
“His practice habits,” Kelce said. “Right away, he immediately became one of the leaders on the team [and] on the offense just by how he practiced and how he’s coming to work, his attention to detail. That’s doing wonders for the wide receiver room [and] for everybody around seeing that guy want it that bad every single day. It’s only going to make you want to work harder and then on top of that, he’s still getting better. He’s getting better in this offense, so it’s fun to see him grow in this offense as well.”
As things currently stand, the Kansas City wide receiver unit has a good mix of young talent and vet leadership. At the top, Brown complements rookie Xavier Worthy and second-year man Rashee Rice as the exciting pieces in the room. Justin Watson, a top-four lock, is the eldest player of the crop at the ripe old age of 28. Elsewhere, Mecole Hardman headlines the final tier with players like Skyy Moore, Kadarius Toney and others still on rookie-scale or undrafted free agent deals.
Brown is expected to fulfill a spot on the team similar to that of JuJu Smith-Schuster in 2022. While the two are vastly different players, there seems to be a trust factor with quarterback Patrick Mahomes building for Brown in the same fashion it did for Smith-Schuster. Early in the offseason, Mahomes himself already dreamed about possibilities with his new target. This week, he provided an update on Brown and praised his overall ability.
“What impressed me so much about Hollywood is everybody told me he was a fast guy, but no one told me how much he can actually do on the football field,” Mahomes said. “You can see it. He can run those over-the-middle routes, he can run really good routes and he can run deep. It’s not like fast is the only thing he can do. You’ve seen that kind of really transpire over these last few days of practice, and he keeps getting better and better.”
After a rough year, the Chiefs’ wideout collective needed better top-end talent and improved depth. It also could’ve benefitted from an established entity to take pressure off everyone else. Luckily for them, it appears that Brown is providing the best of both worlds.
It’s early, but Kansas City’s returns on the Brown investment are positive.
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Source link : https://www.si.com/nfl/chiefs/gm-report/hollywood-brown-making-a-profound-impact-at-camp-and-keeps-getting-better
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Publish date : 2024-07-27 14:01:00
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