A.J. Brown just got ranked No. 80 on the NFL Top 100 Players list. That’s a 51-spot drop from last year. And honestly? It might be the best thing that could have happened for the New England Patriots.
Let’s back up. Brown’s last season in Philadelphia was weird. The numbers weren’t terrible — 78 catches, 1,003 yards, seven touchdowns. But it felt like a down year because the Eagles’ offense cratered down the stretch. The drama was loud. The sideline stuff with Jalen Hurts became a whole thing. And when you lose in the wild card round after a 10-2 start, everyone looks for someone to blame.
But here’s the part the box score doesn’t show. According to ESPN Analytics, Brown finished top 16 in the entire NFL in three separate categories: getting open, catching passes, and creating yards after the catch. The only other receiver who did that? Puka Nacua. That’s it. One other guy in a league with Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill, and Ja’Marr Chase.
The fit with Drake Maye is the real story
The players voted Brown No. 80, which says a lot — they still respect the physicality and the explosive ability. But the Patriots didn’t trade for him based on a player poll. They traded for him based on what he can do in an offense that actually uses him correctly.
On ESPN’s NFL Live, analyst Bill Barnwell backed up something Tom Brady had said earlier: Brown is a much better strategic fit with Drake Maye than he ever was with Hurts. Barnwell pointed out that Philadelphia basically stopped throwing play-action and in-breaking routes over the middle. That was Brown’s whole thing in Tennessee. That’s where he made his money. The Eagles just … abandoned it.
Maye, by contrast, is a natural processor of vertical routes. He can push the ball deep and hit those middle-of-the-field windows that Brown feasts on. It’s not a small adjustment. It’s a fundamental shift in how the passing game operates.
The ranking doesn’t matter. What matters is what comes next.
Brown was the first Patriot to appear on this year’s countdown. That’ll get people in New England excited. And sure, the 51-spot slide stings for a guy who was No. 29 a year ago. But the context matters. He was struggling through a system that didn’t play to his strengths. Now he’s in Foxborough with a young quarterback who fits his game. The drop in ranking might actually be the least interesting part of this whole thing.
What’s interesting is whether the Patriots can get back the guy who averaged 1,400 yards per season in Tennessee. If they do, the ranking at No. 80 will look like a joke by midseason.
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