Ravens: Marquise Brown on pace for a monster season

Third-year wide receiver Marquise Brown had his best game as a pro in the Baltimore Ravens‘ monster Monday night victory in Week 5.

Hollywood combined with Mark Andrews to power Lamar Jackson’s career passing night helping will the Ravens to victory.

Brown contributed nine catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns, good enough for his most receptions in a game, his second-most yards, and tied for second-most touchdowns.

Lost in the celebration of the game, Jackson’s performance, and the Ravens’ 4-1 start to the season, is how big of a season Brown is having, and on pace to have.

Bringing Hollywood to Baltimore

Through Week 5, Brown has 28 catches for 451 yards and five touchdowns, placing him 18th in the league in catches, eighth in yards, and second in touchdowns.

Among his 28 catches, nine have gone for 20 or more yards, behind only Davante Adams (10), and three have gone for more than 40 yards, behind only Ja’Marr Chase (4).

At his current rate, Brown is on pace for 95 receptions, 1,533 yards, and 17 touchdowns. If you need that converted to 16-game format, he’d be on track for 89 catches, 1,443 yards, and 16 touchdowns.

He is having a season that thrusts him into the conversation among the very best receivers in the NFL.

In the Ravens’ previous 25 seasons, only 11 times has their leading receiver surpassed 1,000 yards, and only Michael Jackson in 1996 surpassed 1,200 — he had 1,201.

It’s impressive by any metric. It would be the second-highest catch total (103) and comfortably the most touchdown catches in franchise history.

Should he score 17 touchdowns, he’d match the fourth-highest receiving touchdown total in NFL history.

Put simply, he is on track to have by far the greatest single-season in Ravens history, and one of the most explosive seasons in NFL history.

Marquise Brown’s growth with the Ravens isn’t only statistical

It is important to remember that early season numbers can dwindle as the season goes on — it’s difficult to actually sustain it every week.

Nevertheless, Brown’s production prompts a closer look, which sheds light on the strides Brown is making as a receiver.

Brown is an excellent route runner. He has shown countless times this season an ability to gain a lot of separation in his cuts — never more savagely than on his 43-yard touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts.

His speed is a phenomenal weapon, but it wasn’t enough for him to consistently win reps. Adding precise and explosive route running takes him into a different class of wide receivers.

His route running only enhances the impact of his speed and makes him an even bigger threat after the catch with more space to operate.

The leap many expected him to make last season has come now, and it’s producing at a rate never before seen by the Ravens.

Marquise Brown is on his way to having a truly monster season, and in doing so, establishing himself as one of the best in the NFL.