Seahawks may get a big year from receiver Jaron Brown
By Lee Vowell
The Seahawks needed to add a bigger receiver this offseason. Jaron Brown has never had huge statistics. But maybe 2018 will be his breakout season.
The Seahawks lost Jimmy Graham this offseason to the Green Bay Packers. With him leaving, Seattle lost a big target in the red zone. To help replace Graham, Seattle signed former Arizona Cardinals receiver Jaron Brown.
Seattle also lost receiver Paul Richardson this year. Losing both Graham and Richardson means the Seahawks lost a combined 16 touchdown receptions from 2017. Richardson had his best year last season. Graham had his best season in Seattle when it comes to catching touchdowns.
No one really expects Brown to replace probably even half of those touchdown receptions. In fact, in Brown’s five seasons in the NFL he has a total of nine touchdowns caught. That is not a lot.
But the 28 year-old receiver might be on the uptick of his career. After not getting more than 32 targets in a season with Arizona prior to 2017, last year Brown got 69. The problem is he was only able to catch 31 of those passes.
Still, when Brown can catch the ball, he does things. In 2016, Brown average 17 yards a catch. In 2017, that was 15.4. 15.4 would be the highest of any Seahawk of the 2018 roster from 2017. And Brown had that season mostly with starting quarterback Carson Palmer missing most of the year.
In an interview this week on 710 ESPN Seattle, Brown mentioned a difference between playing in Seattle and Arizona. And this difference might help Brown become a much more valuable receiver to the Seahawks than the Cardinals. Brown said that Russell Wilson routinely comes to the receivers room and breaks down film with the group. Brown found it impressive that his new quarterback would give insight as to how he sees things develop on the field and how receivers might be able to play off Wilson’s improvisation.
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Of course, Seattle also added Brandon Marshall this offseason too. But Marshall appears to have lost a step. Brown is six-foot-three and Marshall is six-foot-five; Both are tall receivers. But Brown has the potential to have a bigger impact than Marshall in 2018 as Brown still has lots of speed. For Seattle to overcome the losses of Graham and Richardson, the Seahawks needs Jaron Brown to have a good year.