Cardinals WR Marquise Brown Picked as Massive Fantasy Football Bust

Arizona Cardinals WR Marquise Brown should be avoided by fantasy football players at all costs, according to FantasyPros.

Though the Arizona Cardinals aren't expected to produce many positive outcomes on the field for 2023, the landscape of fantasy football still offers opportunities for players to impact games in the box score. 

Yards, catches and touchdowns in the desert will count all the same this season, and many believe opportunities for players such as James Conner and Marquise Brown will be plentiful - even in garbage time.

With DeAndre Hopkins out of the picture, Brown now steps into his role as WR1 for Arizona, though there's some outlets weary on what he will be capable of this season. 

FantasyPros listed Brown along with Pittsburgh Steelers WR George Pickens and Buffalo Bills TE Dalton Kincaid as massive fantasy busts to avoid in 2023:

Cardinals WR Marquise Brown Picked as Massive Fantasy Football Bust

"Beware when the sales pitch for a player begins with, 'Who else are they gonna throw to?' The alpha receiver for a lousy team isn’t automatically going to be a valuable fantasy asset simply because he’s the alpha.

"Interest in 'Hollywood' spiked when the Cardinals released DeAndre Hopkins. It will be noted repeatedly this summer that Brown was the WR5 in PPR fantasy scoring through the first six weeks of the 2022 season while Hopkins was serving a performance-enhancing drug (PED) suspension. 

"It should be noted, however, that only one of those six games came against a good pass defense. Give Hollywood credit for hanging an 8-78-1 stat line against an Eagles defense that ranked No. 1 in defense-adjusted value over average (DVOA) against the pass last season, according to Football Outsiders. But the other five teams Brown faced during that stretch ranked 17th, 20th, 24th, 27th and 31st in DVOA against the pass.

"Brown has finished with fewer than 800 yards in three of his four seasons. His 1,008-yard campaign in 2021 was the only time he’s averaged better than 60 receiving yards per game over a season. Brown has averaged an uninspiring 7.2 yards per target and 1.67 yards per route run for his career.

"It’s unclear when Cardinals QB Kyler Murray will be able to return to action after tearing his ACL in December. There’s little reason for the Cardinals to rush him back since they appear fully committed to a rebuild. While Murray is out, the Cardinals will be quarterbacked by journeyman Colt McCoy (who may have injury issues of his own) or rookie Clayton Tune.

"Bad teams produce unstable assets. The Arizona Cardinals are going to be a five-alarm fire this season. Maybe we shouldn’t be so eager to run into the burning building."

FantasyPros also didn't mention the possibility of other receivers emerging, which includes the speedy slot man in Rondale Moore (who won't be relegated to screens and jet sweeps anymore) and rising rookie Michael Wilson, who has undoubtedly pushed his way into serious playing time. 

Brown also hopes to stay healthy after a foot fracture sidelined him for a handful of games in the middle of the season.