Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown had an outing to forget in the team’s 24-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys, and fantasy football managers everywhere are panicking. While the Eagles largely moved the ball effortlessly against a poor Cowboys defense, Brown finished the night with just one reception for eight yards on one target. You never want to overreact to one bad week, but is it time to start worrying about Brown?
Fantasy Football: Time to Panic About A.J. Brown?
Looking At History
Catching one pass for eight yards is never a good thing, and Brown’s 54.1 PFF grade suggests this wasn’t a Jalen Hurts issue: the wideout just wasn’t getting open. Fantasy football is a volatile game, and, in isolation, one bad performance by A.J. Brown shouldn’t be cause for alarm. However, this continues an unfortunate trend from last year.
While he was still a good player, the 2024 season was something of a mixed bag for Brown. He still performed well in PFF grade and yards per route run, but Brown finished the 2024 campaign with “just” 97 targets, his fewest since his rookie season. Now playing in his age-28 season, he might be starting to slow down.
With that being said, it’s hard to imagine he’s completely over the hill. Week 1’s low PFF grade is concerning, but the age cliff doesn’t come this fast. Part of the reason for Brown’s Week 1 struggle is Philadelphia’s safe and conservative gameplan.
The Cowboys have one of the league’s worst defenses, but their lone strength is at the cornerback position. Rather than target a strength, the Eagles decided to exploit the middle of their defense with scrambles and short passes to tight end Dallas Goedert and running back Saquon Barkley. Hurts only took one deep shot the entire game, and it went to third-string wide receiver Jahan Dotson. This is why DeVonta Smith also finished with an underwhelming three catches for 16 yards; ironically, facing a better defense with fewer glaring weaknesses will probably lead to more fantasy football production for A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
Squeaky Wheel Gets the Oil
Even if you think the end is near for A.J. Brown, you should not sell him after this underwhelming performance. Brown has never shied away from making a fuss when he’s not a part of the offense, and Philadelphia has always responded by flooding him with targets. Last year, Brown voiced his displeasure after going nine straight games with single-digit targets, and the team responded by giving him 11 and 15 targets in the next two games.
Given his drop in targets last year and his slow start to 2025, there’s a chance that A.J. Brown’s days as a week-in, week-out fantasy football WR1 are a thing of the past. However, he will still have boom weeks, and trading him now would be selling low. If he struggled in Week 2, then it’s time for all-out panic. However, the best thing to do right now is to start him next week and either accept the volatility or sell him at what will likely be the peak of his value.
Main Photo: Kyle Ross – Imagn Images
