Tennessee Titans: A.J. Brown, Second year superstar

YAC Monster

Arguably what makes the Starkville, Mississippi native more unique than the usual receiver prospect is his Yards after catch (YAC) ability once the ball is in his hands.

Ever since his days at Ole Miss, A.J. Brown has had a Derrick Henry like mindset where he genuinely doesn’t believe you can get him down once he gets rolling. That wolf mentality has been no different once he got to the big league and he has the production and the numbers to back it up:

The Ole Miss product undoubtedly had one of the best rookie receiving seasons in recent history and it gets overlooked simply because of the market he plays in. Brown was not only the sole rookie receiver to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark, he only needed 84 targets to do so which is the fewest for ANY 1,000-yard receiver since PFF began keeping track back in 2006.

Brown ultimately finished his rookie campaign with 1,051 yards and eight touchdowns on just 52 catches. He also contributed another touchdown and 60 yards through the ground on three carries. In fact, the inevitable superstar wideout is the only rookie in the Super Bowl era to eclipse 1,000 yards on 20+ yards per reception (20.21 YPR).

As a rookie, A.J. was also the only receiver in the league to eclipse over nine yards after the catch, per reception, and finished third among all receivers with a grade of nearly 90 on the season, according to PFF. Now that Brown will go into his second season as the unquestioned No.1 receiver, the thought of what he will do with the inevitable influx of targets that will come his way should keep all opposing defenses up at night whenever they see Tennessee on the schedule.