AJ Brown chimes in on being snubbed for offensive rookie of the year.
Jeffery Simmons and AJ Brown joined Nashville’s #1 sports station 104.5TheZone on a Zoom call earlier today. It’s quite refreshing to hear from Titans players, especially with nothing much happening in the world of sports lately.
During his Zoom call, Brown chimed in on being snubbed for Offensive Rookie of the Year, and how it motivates him going forward.
AJ on rookie of the year snub: I'm over it, I didn't win, congrats to Kyler, I'm not dwelling on it it just makes me hungrier #Titans
— 104-5 The Zone (@1045TheZone) May 20, 2020
AJ Brown is going to come back next season ready to prove everyone wrong once again, just like he did after the NFL Draft. Brown has constantly been overlooked and underrated. The Tennessee Titans seem like a perfect fit for AJ Brown, as a team that gets constantly overlooked themselves. Brown will look to change that next season, though, he has already been grinding in preparation for the 2020 season.
.@Brown1arthur said he's been catching roughly 1,000 passes a day @Titans
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) May 20, 2020
Last season, AJ Brown was nominated for Offensive Rookie of the Year. Brown set the rookie record for fewest receptions while still reaching 1,000 yards, but was ultimately snubbed of offensive rookie of the year. Instead, Kyler Murray won the award. Murray finished with 20 passing touchdowns and 4 rushing touchdowns. Kyler Murray put up very similar numbers to former Tennessee Titans rookie Marcus Mariota, who finished with 19 passing touchdowns and 2 rushing touchdowns.
Marcus Mariota came up short of OROY to Todd Gurley who, granted, was a top 5 rusher in his rookie year. Mariota, who had similar stats to Kyler Murray in their rookie seasons, wasn’t really even considered for rookie of the year in 2015.
It’s not crazy to feel that AJ Brown was the easy choice for OROY last season. In fact, even Brown was upset about the results at first.
Opinions over statistics of course .. https://t.co/luM3c32rzh
— AJ Brown (@1kalwaysopen_) January 31, 2020
Not everyone snubbed AJ Brown.
While it was widely believed that Brown would win the award heading into the ceremony, he didn’t walk away with the “official” OROY award. However, that doesn’t mean that his accomplishments were completely overlooked.
PFF decided to set the record straight, though. Naming AJ Brown as their Offensive Rookie of the Year.
— PFF (@PFF) February 1, 2020
The outlook on A.J. Brown is exceptionally bright. With elite caliber efficiency, he is the perfect receiver for this offense because you have to pay attention to him and guys like Derrick Henry and Jonnu Smith. What makes those three special is that those guys have the size and athleticism to take teams that don’t give them extra attention, and punish them for it with long runs after contact.
We have seen flashes in the pan in Tennessee before with bursts of production, but Brown feels unique among receivers around the league and especially in Tennessee Titans history. I think we will look back on the OROY snub and question how qualified the voters were.