Eagles Today

Eagles’ A.J. Brown: Best WR vs. Man Coverage?

A.J. Brown of the Philadelphia Eagles was one of the most successful receivers against man coverage in 2022.

Tim Kelly

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As you dig into some of the more advanced numbers regarding receiver A.J. Brown's first season with the Philadelphia Eagles, you begin to better appreciate just how productive he was in 2022. 

Brown was especially successful against man coverage in his first season in midnight green, posting a 90.4 receiving grade against said looks in 2022. According to Pro Football Focus, that was the fourth-best ranking among all receivers: 

"Arguably the last receiver you would want to play man-to-man, Brown has great speed and quickness to match his unbelievable physicality," PFF writes. "The numbers speak for themselves, as Brown led all receivers against man coverage with 39 receptions, 674 yards and six touchdowns. If Jalen Hurts saw the defense playing man coverage, good chance he was looking Brown's way, as his 62 targets were tied first with Bills’ Stefon Diggs." 

The only receivers who finished with higher grades against man coverage in PFF's system were Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Detroit Lions, Ja'Marr Chase of the Cincinnati Bengals and CeeDee Lamb of the Dallas Cowboys. 

In total, Brown had 88 catches for 1,496 yards and 11 touchdowns during his first regular season with the Eagles, and was named a Second-Team All-Pro. While the Eagles ultimately lost 38-35  to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII, Brown still turned in an excellent individual performance, catching six passes for 96 yards and a second-quarter touchdown: 

Brown -- who has 4,491 receiving yards in four NFL seasons split between the Tennessee Titans and Eagles -- checked in No. 7 on our countdown of the top 10 receivers entering the 2023 season. 

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Tim Kelly
TIM KELLY

Tim Kelly is a contributor to SI's NFL team sites. Additionally, Kelly covers the Philadelphia Phillies as the Editorial Director for PhilliesNation.com. Previously, Kelly has been a producer at SportsRadio 94 WIP and a content producer for Audacy Sports, with written content syndicated to WIP, WFAN, WEEI and some of the biggest sports radio stations in the country. Kelly also has contributed to Bleacher Report, Just Baseball, Sports Talk Philly and Section 215, FanSided's Philadelphia affiliate. Kelly is a 2018 graduate of Bloomsburg University, with a major in Mass Communications and a minor in political science. 

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