Hollywood

Brown

It was easy to tell that Brown was still rounding in to form as he positioned a foot out of bounds on a deep sideline ball by Mahomes that came on a third-and-15 in the third quarter. The Chiefs did lead off the game with two straight throws at him, and Brown played 43 snaps, eclipsing all non-Worthy wideouts for Kansas City. That kind of usage puts him in a nice spot for Super Bowl DFS contests even if the target and yardage totals have been uninspiring in Kansas City’s first two playoff games.

Brown commanded 15 targets across his two December appearances, but the Chiefs’ passing attack went to sleep in this afternoon’s dreary win. We assume Patrick Mahomes and company will be needed for much more against either the Bills or Ravens in the AFC Championship Game, making Brown a better usage bet despite today’s statistical face-plant.

Carson Wentz will draw the start this week. Reid didn’t name every starter getting the day off, but our best guess for the list of names includes Travis Kelce, Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt, DeAndre Hopkins, Xavier Worthy, and Hollywood Brown. Expect others to make the cut as well. The Chiefs are massive underdogs to the Broncos this week, all but guaranteeing Denver a spot in the playoffs.

Brown has been back for two games since is shoulder injury, and he’s had eerily similar production in both with a 5-45-0 line against the Texans in the previous contest. The Chiefs want to keep getting the 27-year-old acclimated, so it’s possible he could see a similar amount of targets despite Week 18 against the Broncos having no meaning for Kansas City.

Brown played just 14 snaps in Week 16’s win over the Texans, catching five of eight targets for 45 yards while running 38 percent of his routes from the slot. It’s reasonable to expect 20-30 snaps for Brown in Week 17 against the Steelers, which is enough to put him in deep-league consideration. The problem with the Chiefs passing game right now is that there are almost too many mouths to feed, and it’s hard to tell who will get the ball enough to produce fantasy value each week outside of Xavier Worthy and Travis Kelce.

Brown converted a key fourth down early in the game when he was left open on the sideline, but didn’t reel in either of his deep targets. He mostly passed the eye test though, and eight targets right away is fairly promising for his Week 17 value. The downside? He played just 14 snaps. Brown could have FLEX value against the Steelers, but holding that level of snaps-per-target is unlikely. We’re going to need to see the snap counts go up — or at least a coaching comment alluding to such — before he’s a comfortable start.

Brown practiced in full throughout the week and will now make his Chiefs debut on Saturday versus the Texans. The Chiefs will ease Brown back into the lineup, keeping him off the fantasy radar for Week 16. However, his return makes already thin bets in Xavier Worthy and DeAndre Hopkins that much worse for fantasy purposes. Hopkins has been a part-time player since joining the Chiefs and now there’s even more of a threat to his routes. Xavier Worthy, on the other hand, runs all of the routes but rarely sees WR1 usage. His 11-target outing in Week 15 will keep him in the WR3 ranks for Saturday’s matchup with Houston.

Brown suffered what was once believed to be a season-ending shoulder injury in the Chiefs’ first preseason game and hasn’t been heard from since. Now, the speedy receiver will make his long-awaited debut with the team on Saturday against the Texans, providing what should be a much-needed boost to the offense. Reports out of training camp suggested Brown and Patrick Mahomes were developing a good rapport with one another before Brown’s injury. He’s too risky a bet for fantasy managers to count on in Week 16 outside of deep leagues, but a solid target share/route participation rate could make him an intriguing dart thrown in Week 17 against the Steelers.

Brown is now on track to play this weekend though he is likely to be eased into action given his extended absence. He is not a recommended start at this time but his big-play potential is tough to fully ignore. Brown is a boom/bust flex option if active.

This would seem to get him in line to play against the Texans in Week 16. The Chiefs are conducting lower-intensity practices ahead of the game so it’s possible there’s a little gamesmanship in these listings. Brown won’t be a fantasy football factor until it’s established that he’s playing a full workload in a Chiefs passing game that spreads the ball around.