Ranking The 2019 NFL Draft WR Class In Year Three: Who Tops The List?

6. Marquise Brown, Baltimore Ravens

The first wide receiver taken in the 2019 NFL Draft was Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. It was a surprising selection considering his size (5’9″, 180 pounds) but the Ravens needed a deep threat in the worst way. Brown was a great deep threat for the Oklahoma Sooners, and could maintain his speed with little adjustments needed on post and corner routes. He could accelerate in an instant and run away from defenders post-catch.

That speed and explosion played into the quick game, and Brown has thrived in those two areas so far in his career. He’s turned some slant routes into scores, and is a very good deep threat who can eat into and stress defenses, even ones that primarily play a lot of two-high. His tracking is very good down the field as well.

Teams have to respect Brown’s speed, and that’s allowed him to thrive on hitch/stop and comeback routes to win underneath. When he’s faced with off-coverage, Brown takes advantage, as does Lamar Jackson in finding him.

There’s a clear and defined role with those two aspects for Brown in the Ravens passing game, and that keeps him from the top couple of tiers in this 2019 NFL Draft class. He’s not going to be a number one guy, and he still struggles with drops and against stronger, press coverage guys. Brown isn’t a bust in any aspect, and he’s done his job well within this Baltimore offense through (nearly) three seasons.