5. Terry McLaurin (2019 Season: 14 Appearances — 14 Starts)
AJ Brown: 52 Catches, 84 Targets, 1,051 Yards, 9 Total Touchdowns
Terry McLaurin: 58 Catches, 93 Targets, 919 Yards, 7 Total Touchdowns
I want to be clear– none of this is to make the case that AJ Brown right now is better than any of the receivers we’ve previously gone through. Up to this point, this has just been an exercise to show how Brown’s rookie year stacks up against the league’s best receivers, and to show the potential Brown has based on that first-year performance…
…That said, AJ Brown is definitively, 100% better than Terry McLaurin (fight me, Washington fans). And the numbers back it up.
Once again, AJ Brown’s per catch brilliance is on full display (imagine what he could do with 100+ targets, Arthur Smith). Even with fewer targets and fewer catches, Brown was able to cobble together more yards and more touchdowns (receiving and rushing) than Washington’s McLaurin.
Both are stars in the making, but as far as rookie year production goes, AJ Brown takes the cake here.