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Should this be a “stock down” week for Tennessee Titans A.J. Brown

By Will Lomas

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - OCTOBER 27: A.J. Brown #11 of the Tennessee Titans runs onto the field before the NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Nissan Stadium on October 27, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Bryan Woolston/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - OCTOBER 27: A.J. Brown #11 of the Tennessee Titans runs onto the field before the NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Nissan Stadium on October 27, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Bryan Woolston/Getty Images) /
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Should the Tennessee Titans have any concern about A.J. Brown?

Chris Spooner of Pro Football Network mentioned Tennessee Titans WR A.J. Brown in his rookie stock up/stock down column, and it wasn’t a positive for the former Ole Miss star.

I want to post the quote and some of the analysis here so I can give my rebuttal/defense of Brown, but as always I encourage you to go to the original story and read the full breakdown if you want to know more.

Here his closing statement on Brown:

"Brown, much like the next name on this list, has had an impressive season as an NFL rookie but was a complete non-factor on Sunday. Brown was targeted only four times on Sunday, turning only one target into a reception for 17 yards. This was Brown’s third game this season with 20 or fewer receiving yards. It’s been more good than bad with Brown, but he’s clearly still working out the kinks that virtually all NFL rookies struggle with."

It is fair to say that A.J. Brown has had an up and down season, but he is still on pace to have over 700 yards in his rookie season which would be a franchise record.

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If you watch the game, it seems like Brown is struggling with some kind of small injury or maybe it is just the fatigue that comes with playing 10-straight games in your rookie season.

Either way, I wouldn’t say that his stock is down. You just have to look at it in context and that context is the fact that the game plan was clearly to try and attack the linebackers in coverage with 12 of the 19 pass attempts going to tight ends or Derrick Henry.

The targets Brown saw Sunday:

-4th and 17 go route that hit him in the stomach as he was falling to catch the ball, which would have been a spectacular catch.

-A deep pass where the defender made a great play pulling his arm away as he was trying to catch it.

-3rd and 13 pass where there was either miscommunication or where Ryan Tannehill threw 5-yards short of Brown.

-7-yard slant that he plucked out of the air and took an extra 10 yards.

It isn’t like they were using him in easy situations and trying to let him catch and run. Coincidentally, in every game where the Titans have tried to get him involved (3 or more catches) he averages 73 yards and those are the games where he tallied his 3 TD catches.

With a bye week here and some much needed rest, recovery and self scouting, I expect to see a lot more from Corey Davis, A.J. Brown, Derrick Henry, and Jonnu Smith as (hopefully) the Titans offensive coaching staff realizes that they are the players that are making this offense work under Ryan Tannehill.

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