Chiefs WR depth chart: Where Marquise Brown fits among Patrick Mahomes' 2024 receivers

Edward Sutelan

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Chiefs WR depth chart: Where Marquise Brown fits among Patrick Mahomes' 2024 receivers image

Hollywood is coming to Kansas City.

The Chiefs landed wide receiver Marquise Brown, the speedy, deep-ball target who spent the first five years of his career with the Ravens and Cardinals.

Since the departure of Tyreek Hill, the Chiefs have not had a reliable receiver capable of taking the top off defenses. Justin Watson led Chiefs wide receivers with 24 targets and nine receptions on PFF-charted deep passes (20-plus yards down field) in 2023. Marquez Valdes-Scantling led the team in 2022 with those targets (26) and receptions (13).

In 14 games last season, Brown saw his fewest targets since 2020, his second year in the pros, but was still an impact deep-ball threat. Twenty-one of his 94 targets on PFF were charted as deep passes, and he hauled in six of them for 175 yards and a touchdown. Since he came into the league, Brown ranks 20th in average depth of target (11.6) among receivers with at least 200 receptions, according to Stathead.

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Safe to say, Patrick Mahomes is excited about having Brown added to his group of passing options.

Where does Brown fit among the Chiefs' current wide receivers? Here's what you need to know.

Chiefs WR depth chart

  1. Rashee Rice
  2. Marquise Brown
  3. Justin Watson
  4. Skyy Moore
  5. Justyn Ross
  6. Kadarius Toney

Brown might be a big name, but he's not likely to supplant Rashee Rice as the top wide receiver in Kansas City heading in 2024.

Rice is coming off a dynamic rookie season in which he caught 79 passes for 938 yards and seven touchdowns, the former two stats finishing second behind only Travis Kelce and the latter number leading the team. He's not a deep threat for the Chiefs, having caught only one pass last year that traveled 20 yards or more through the air, but on mid-range and short throws, he was explosive. He had just about half his snaps lining up in the slot, and figures to be the go-to slot receiver in 2024, particularly if Valdez-Scantling doesn't return.

Brown should fit in as the No. 2 receiver, and the team's primary outside receiver. Though Brown has experience lining up in the slot, he's primarily spent his career outside running deep routes, using his speed to take the top off defenses. He'll provide an element to the offense that has been missed since Hill left, and makes the Chiefs' offense even scarier at all levels of the field. It was only two seasons ago Brown had a 1,000-yard season with the Ravens as Lamar Jackson's second-favorite weapon (behind Mark Andrews).

Heading into his third season with the Chiefs, Watson has quietly become a solid target for Mahomes. He tied his career-high with 15 catches in 2022, then bested that in 2023 with 27 catches for a career-high 460 yards. Like Brown, Watson has experience lining up in the slot, but is at his best when he's out wide. He was Kansas City's best deep threat in 2023, and he could continue trending upward as the Chiefs' No. 3 guy lining up on the opposite side of the field as Brown.

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What Rice did in 2023 was what many expected Skyy Moore to do in 2022, and even in 2023. The 2022 second-round pick out of Western Michigan has struggled to live up to expectations, with only 43 catches for 494 yards and a touchdown to this point in his career. He has largely been a threat on short passes (0-9 yards downfield), where he caught 14 of his 21 total passes from 2023 for 114 yards and his lone touchdown. Moore likely comes into 2024 as the No. 4 receiver.

Justyn Ross appeared to be a steal when the Chiefs signed him as an undrafted free agent after 2022. He was considered by some a standout receiver at Clemson whose career had been marred by injuries. He missed all of 2022 with foot surgery and was suspended for six games for violations of the league's personal conduct policy, stemming from an arrest for domestic battery. He caught six passes for 53 yards in 2023.

The biggest surprise of the offseason for the Chiefs might be that as things stand, Kadarius Toney is still on the roster. He was a healthy scratch in the Super Bowl as he had clearly fallen out of favor with the Chiefs' offense following a litany of mistakes throughout the 2023 season. He caught 27 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown, but had several key deflections that led to interceptions, was offside on a potential game-winning touchdown against the Bills and had Mahomes visibly fuming on the sidelines at times. It would be surprising if he plays another snap in Kansas City.

Hollywood Brown 40 yard dash time

Brown did not run in the 2019 NFL Combine, but he did perform at Oklahoma's Pro Day. There he ran a blistering 4.27 40-yard dash time. 

To put that in perspective, Hill ran a 4.29 40 at the West Alabama Pro Day when he was coming out of college. 

Hollywood Brown college stats

Year Class Rec Yds TDs
2017 Sophomore 57 1,095 7
2018 Junior 75 1,318 10
Career -- 132 2,413 17

Hollywood Brown NFL stats

Year Age Team G Tgt Rec Yds TDs
2019 22 Ravens 14 71 46 584 7
2020 23 Ravens 16 100 58 769 8
2021 24 Ravens 16 146 91 1,008 6
2022 25 Cardinals 12 107 67 709 3
2023 26 Cardinals 14 101 51 574 4
Career -- -- 72 525 313 3,644 28

Edward Sutelan

Edward Sutelan Photo

Edward Sutelan joined The Sporting News in 2021 after covering high school sports for PennLive. Edward graduated from The Ohio State University in 2019, where he gained experience covering the baseball, football and basketball teams. Edward also spent time working for The Columbus Dispatch and Cape Cod Times.