How ‘Hollywood’ Brown signing impacts the Chiefs’ draft strategy

Here’s what the new receiver could mean for Kansas City’s draft strategy.

On Thursday night, the Kansas City Chiefs made their first actual move in free agency, signing former Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown to a one-year, $7 million deal that can be worth up to $11 million if he hits incentives.

I like this signing a lot.

The Chiefs made an extremely small gamble with this move. If Brown doesn’t work out, they didn’t sacrifice any draft capital or long-term cap flexibility to bring him in. $7 million isn’t a significant amount on a one-year deal, so there’s no real downside for the Chiefs.

Brown also fits a need the Chiefs had: a dynamic vertical route runner who commands attention from a defense. The offense has shifted masterfully post-Tyreek Hill trade, but they never fully replaced Hill with a guy who could truly attract safety attention. At points during last year’s regular season, this was a problem.

Teams have been more willing to play man-to-man with no safety help over the top — simply because the Chiefs don’t threaten downfield. Brown gives the Chiefs a credibility downfield they haven’t had since Hill was here.

So, for the price and ability of the player, I think this is a clear win. But how does the Brown signing change the rest of the Chiefs’ offseason? Since this was their first big external move, how should the Chiefs’ draft strategies change to account for Brown?

To me, there’s are two things that I feel have changed for the Chiefs:

The Chiefs now have positional flexibility in the first round

Before the Brown signing, it would be very difficult for the Chiefs not to take a wide receiver in the first round. As guys were flying off the board in free agency the past couple of days, there weren’t many veteran options left that could make a meaningful difference. They were almost going to have to be locked into taking a wide receiver in the first round, which is never a spot you want to be in with the draft. If you have to take a wide receiver regardless, you might be missing value on the board by trying to solve one need.

Brown was one of the last impact wide receivers available in free agency while giving the Chiefs a better wide receiver than anyone outside of Rashee Rice last year. The Chiefs now have two dependable options on the perimeter besides Travis Kelce for Patrick Mahomes to throw to, which is more than he’s had since the Chiefs had Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins.

They can take a wide receiver at 32 and make it a massive strength, but they’ve got by with worse wide receiver rooms before. This draft has enough depth at the position where Rice, Brown, and another Day 2 pick alongside some veterans is probably enough for the Chiefs to have an efficient offense.

So, positions like defensive tackle, cornerback (if L’Jarius Sneed gets traded), or offensive tackle are now feasible options. Even taking another defensive end wouldn’t be the worst process ever if the board falls right. The Chiefs now have the flexibility to do whatever they want in the draft, which is an ideal spot to be in a month out.

Brown can play on the outside, but the Chiefs need someone with size

There needs to be some clarification about Brown’s game; he plays outside wide receiver. In fact, He predominantly plays on the outside. 82% of his snaps last season were out wide vs. in the slot. Whether he was with the Ravens or Cardinals, he’s always been a guy who can play on the outside and win in those ways. Brown has more ball skills and strength than his profile would suggest, and for a guy of his size, he can win over the middle of the field more than he’s given credit for. In a lot of ways, he thrives as a vertical “X” who can mix it up with intermediate routes if needed.

However, Brown still isn’t a traditional “X” receiver. Asking him to deal with press from longer, physical cornerbacks throughout an entire season isn’t an optimal way to use him. Even if he’s predominantly played on the outside, Brown isn’t running slants, stop routes, or any contested catch situation on the outside that often. Most of his work is running outside vertical routes like Post or Go routes with occasional intermediate routes as well, but he can only run certain routes well at his size.

So, while I think it’s nice Brown has the versatility and experience playing on the outside, the Chiefs should dabble with putting him in the slot more. Let him use his vertical speed against free releases into open space. Why task him with having to win on his own all the time when, instead, you could help him out with motion and alignment? Maybe they will find Brown is better in that role, and he will pop in those situations. If the Chiefs want to do this, they would still need to find an “X” receiver.

Fortunately, this draft is filled with those options. Here is a list of seven guys that could all fill that criteria for the Chiefs:

• Adonai Mitchell, Texas
• Keon Coleman, Florida State
• Xavier Legette, South Carolina
• Troy Franklin, Oregon
• Brian Thomas Jr., LSU
• Jermaine Burton, Alabama
• Malachi Corley, Western Kentucky

I love the idea of putting Brown in the slot with another wide receiver who can win vertically but from the outside more. If you can stretch the field from both the slot and outside, that puts a ton of pressure on a defense. The Chiefs have never been able to access a lot of throws outside the numbers downfield for years, simply cause they lack the receiver to win there. This class has so many guys who thrive at that; it would be a perfect match of need and skill set.

Adding more size to this wide receiver room is critical. Yes, I think a guy like Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy could play next to Brown, but I find that suboptimal. You’re going to run into a team with bigger cornerbacks who can press you and disrupt you at the line of scrimmage. You have to have some option with size that can win through physicality. If you’re asking Brown to do that over an entire season, he’s going to have games where he struggles. His positional versatility will be helpful, but I still hope the Chiefs go out and get someone with size so that Brown doesn’t have to do that all the time.

The bottom line

If the Chiefs add one more guy with size who you can isolate alone and have them win on the outside, it allows you to get more creative with the alignments of Brown, Rice, and Kelce. Brown being able to play on the outside does mean the Chiefs can rotate more wide receivers in and have versatility, but to fully unlock these guys, I think one more guy with legit size is all we would need to solve that.