Mark Wimer's Thoughts

Reggie Brown struggled to begin his rookie season (no surprise there), but he did come on strong during the second half of the season, seeing more and more passes directed his way starting in week 9 vs. Washington (when he saw 8 for 5/94/1). He closed the season with his best effort of the year, converting 11 passes into 7 catches for 77 yards and 2 TDs. Over the course of Brown's inaugural season, he managed to snag 43 passes for 571 yards and 4 TDs, despite suffering through 1/2 of a season with the struggling tandem of Koy Detmer and Mike McMahon standing in for the injured Donovan McNabb. With incumbent starter Todd Pinkston coming into the season after a year off due to injury, Terrell Owens donning a Cowboy hat and a star, and few other viable options at his position (Greg Lewis, Jabar Gaffney and Darnerian McCants haven't dazzled us so far in their careers), Brown looks secure atop the depth chart in Philadelphia.

There are worse things in the world than being Donovan McNabb's #1 target in the passing game. Brown should see lots of opportunities to build on his solid rookie campaign.

Positives

• Brown finished the season strongly and should be poised to elevate his game to the next level now that he has a year of experience in the Eagles' complex offense.
• Brown appears to have a hammerlock on the starting job in Philadelphia - he's got a lot of potential to exceed last year's relatively modest numbers.
• Brown will (hopefully) benefit greatly from McNabb's return to the starting lineup - it would be hard for Brown to not improve noticeably with the Eagles' elite QB back under center.

Negatives

• While Brown finds himself in excellent circumstances, with great potential to excel, he is still a very young player. Learning to play within the Eagles' brand of the west coast offense is not an easy task - we have yet to see if Brown can handle the pressure of being the "go-to" guy in this offense.
• Brown's yards-per-catch average of 13.3 illustrates his lack of game-breaking speed - he may not throw down a lot of long, game-breaking type scores.
• The lack of a solid supporting cast of receivers will allow opposing defenses to pay close attention to Brown on the field. Unless some of the other players at the wide receiver position can prove to be a legitimate threat to opposing secondaries, Brown may have to fight off a lot of double coverage during 2006.

Final Thoughts

Brown is in position to seize the #1 wide receiver role in Philadelphia. Whether or not he is truly ready for the job is something we won't know until deeper into the pre-season. Right now, Brown looks like an intriguing prospect who could surprise a lot of people during 2006 - but don't count on him to be a leading fantasy wide receiver, and you won't be disappointed. He's a guy to roll the dice on as a primary backup who might work his way into your starting lineup.

Quotations from the Message Board Thread

To view the entire Player Spotlight thread (there's a ton of fantastic commentary in there), click here.

Iwannabeacowboybaby!:
Over the past three seasons, Philadelphia WR1 has averaged:

62 RECS, 858 YARDS, 7 TDS

During the 2nd half of '05, Reggie Brown looked more & more like the #1 option. If he has a good offseason, he could improve on last years numbers and at least hit the average for Philly WR1.

KnowledgeReignsSupreme:
There's a lot of receptions to go around in Philly with Gaffney, LJ Smith and Westbrook on the team. As I stated in an earlier thread...is Brown a guy you HAVE to get involved in the game?

65 catches, 845 yards, 6 TDs.

I'd say he has a better chance of falling short of those projections than exceeding them.

Byron nyc:
Shutdown corners across the country are circling their calendars for the day they get to play the weakest, on paper, #1 WR, in the NFL. Think Nate Burleson, 2005. Big upside, but wouldn't you rather have Koren Robinson, Coles, or Ernest Wilford, guys you can get in the same, or later rounds?

Reggie Brown Projections

SOURCE	RSHYD	RSHTD	REC	RECYD	RECTD
Mark Wimer	0	0	60	800	5
Message Board Consensus	0	0	67	890	7