Hollywood Brown Injury Update: Should Fantasy Managers Be Worried About the Kansas City Chiefs WR?

The NFL preseason is over and the regular season is less than two weeks away, which means it’s time for fantasy football drafts. Many NFL fans are cramming ahead of their drafts and checking in on the various injuries around the league. What’s the latest on Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Hollywood Brown, and should you draft him?

The Latest on Hollywood Brown’s Injury

The shoulder injury that landed Hollywood Brown in the hospital is expected to keep him sidelined through the first half of September, if not the entire month.

Brown suffered a sternoclavicular joint dislocation, which is the same injury that Tyreek Hill suffered in 2019 as a member of the Chiefs. Hill was sidelined for four games (but his injury occurred midseason).

On Friday, Andy Reid told reporters that Brown is expected to miss the Week 1. The Chiefs open the 2024 NFL season by hosting the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night.

We know that the Chiefs operate with an eye on January, making it very possible that they are cautious with their offseason addition, especially with Rashee Rice seemingly skirting any kind of suspension.

This, naturally, opens the door for Xavier Worthy, the holder of the NFL Combine record for the 40-yard dash and a playmaker that Kansas City traded up to select. History suggests that rookie receivers peak in the second half of the season, and Worthy could accelerate the learning curve by getting consistent reps from the jump.

That said, you have to pay for that upside. Worthy is being selected in the top 90 overall, roughly two rounds ahead of Brown. There’s nothing wrong with chasing the upside and tying your WR4 to Patrick Mahomes; you just have to be ready for the peaks and valleys.

Hollywood Brown’s Fantasy Outlook

Brown is coming off the worst season of his career, averaging 9.6 fantasy points per game last year with the Arizona Cardinals.

The good news is we can pretty easily explain it away. For starters, Brown was without Kyler Murray for half the season. Although he saw a healthy 22.8% target share, his catchable target rate was among the worst in the league. It’s easy to blame bad quarterback play for Brown’s struggles, and that’s exactly what we should do.

Just two years ago, Brown averaged 13.0 fantasy points per game. In 2022, he averaged 14.1 fantasy points per game.

Now, playing with Mahomes in a Kansas City offense that had a 61% neutral-game-script pass rate last season (compared to 53% from Arizona), not only should Brown’s quality of target increase but so should the overall volume.

MORE: PFN’s Consensus 2024 Fantasy Football Rankings

Brown’s SC joint injury sustained in the first preseason game will lower his cost. Given that he avoided surgery, combined with this being the same injury Tyreek Hill suffered in 2019, which cost him four games, I am not docking Brown much as a result.

Even if he misses the first week or two of the season, that’s not enough for me to significantly lower my ranking.