The Best (and Worst) Receivers for Lamar Jackson
John Brown: An Underutilized Weapon
John Browns returned to his 2015 form earlier this season with Joe Flacco, but now with Lamar at the helm, Brown has fallen off. Lamar can’t hit on his deep ball and has missed Brown deep seemingly every game. Lamar thrives in his short to intermediate game and needs receivers that can make tough catches over the middle and that just isn’t what John Brown can do. John Brown has made a few catches over the middle, but he’s been wide open each time.
Willie Snead, Mark Andrews, and even Michael Crabtree have emerged as better fits for Lamar Jackson, but that doesn’t mean John Brown is a bad player. John Brown commanded double coverage once teams saw the connection between him and Flacco. Although that did slow him down, Brown still seemed like any pass thrown his way downfield could be a catch, which the Ravens haven’t seen in a while.
John Brown has 18 targets since Lamar has taken over, but he only has 4 catches, posting a terrible 22% catch rate. Brown averages over 17 yards a catch this year and a majority of that comes through the air, not after the catch. By the time Brown gets open downfield, Lamar has either thrown it or taken off. At this point, he’s more of a decoy than a true home run threat.
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Brown doesn’t make sense for the Ravens to re-sign this offseason. He will be 29 next year and won’t be able to contribute enough if the Ravens continue this ball control offense. He’s proved himself this year, but it’s been an audition for other teams. Lamar won’t be able to consistently throw the deep ball for at least another season and there’s no point to waste money on him when we can get someone to help Lamar more effectively.