“It stunts his growth as a quarterback” - NFL analyst says Ravens trading Marquise Brown will be detrimental to Lamar Jackson
The NFL Draft produced a lot of surprises on Thursday night, and one of the biggest shocks of the night was when the Baltimore Ravens traded wide receiver Marquise "Hollywood" Brown to the Arizona Cardinals.
The #AZCardinals trade No. 23 to the #Ravens for 100 and Hollywood Brown. twitter.com/RapSheet/statu…
The Ravens acquired the Cardinals' 23rd overall pick in the first round while sending Brown and their third-round pick (No. 100) as part of the trade.
Former NFL wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson spoke about the trade on First Take and said Jackson wouldn't be able to win another MVP after losing a productive receiver like Brown.
Johnson said:
“Aaron Rodgers has had one first-round pick that he threw balls to that the Packers [drafted], and that was Javon Walker. That was a long time ago. So it tells me he can get away with not having a top-notch wide receiver. They got third-round, fourth-round guys, they can always develop them with a great quarterback. No question about it. You said Lamar Jackson can still be the MVP? No, he can't. Because you got to be able to push the ball down the field..."
Johnson added that trading away the Ravens' most productive receiver will stunt Jackson's growth as a quarterback:
"When he was the MVP, it wasn’t all on his legs. He was putting the ball in the air. Every single year since he's been in the league quarterback position, what is the one thing that we always say? It’s the evolution of the passing game. They need a big-time wide receiver. Hollywood Brown last year had 90-plus catches, 1,000 yards, [he] was certainly on his way to looking like a guy who was a second versus a third receiver in the league. They now got rid of this dude. So what does that do to Lamar Jackson? It stunts his growth as a quarterback.”
Lamar Jackson responded to the Baltimore Ravens trading Marquise Brown
Upon hearing about the trade, Jackson expressed how he felt on Twitter last night, tweeting: "Wtf."
Wtf
Jackson has every right to be upset because he lost his No. 1 receiver over the past few years. Last season, Brown had his best season in the NFL as he tallied a career-high 1,008 receiving yards, a career-high in receptions with 91, and scored six touchdowns. Tight end Mark Andrews is the only other Raven to go for over 1,000 receiving yards in the last four seasons.