Baltimore Ravens WR Marquise Brown Shows Skills, More Muscle
The quarantine restrictions with COVID-19 haven't slowed Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Marquise "Hollywood" Brown.
The speedy playmaker has added more muscle to his 5-foot-9, 170-pound frame judging by photos and video he posted on social media.
Brown, the Ravens first-round pick (25th overall) in the 2019 NFL draft, was never fully healthy after undergoing offseason Lisfranc surgery on his right foot. He is fully recovered from the injury heading into this season and should be an even bigger playmaker for the Ravens' explosive attack.
"Marquise, who was really not 100% most of the year—and that was pretty obvious, right?" Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "And he’s a huge piece of what we’re doing and fits this offense so well."
Even with the injury, Brown had the ability to run past defenders and made several highlight-reel receptions. He was the top wide receiver on the team with 46 receptions for 584 yards with seven touchdowns.
Now that Brown had a full offseason to fully recover from the foot injury, he should be full-go for training camp if the players are allowed to report.
Brown will be able to create matchup problems on the outside, posing matchup problems for the most talented secondaries and generating opportunities for his teammates. In the playoff loss to Tennessee, Brown caught seven passes for 126 yards.
“When he's not involved, he's making the offense better, because there'll be two defenders guarding him sometimes," quarterback Lamar Jackson said. "He's so fast, and he runs great routes. And he's not even 100 [percent] to his full potential, so he plays a big part in our offense. And we have to do a better job at getting him the ball.”
The Ravens were happy with his progress throughout his first year with the team. Brown was able to absorb the nuances of the offense, which revolved around the running attack.
“The biggest thing, in our run game, sometimes we use him on the backside when a lot of times [previously] we’d use runs," assistant head coach David Culley said. "We’ve [put] him on the front side because he understands what we need to get done on that side. And from a standpoint of scouting, normally, if we’re running the ball sometimes, you think he’s always to the backside."