A.J. Brown (WR, TEN) - Week 8 Waiver Wire Pickups

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ANALYSIS: Let's be honest: moving from Marcus Mariota to Ryan Tannehill doesn’t sound exciting at all. But somehow, it worked for Tennessee in Week 7 as the Titans were able to edge the Chargers by three points at the end of the day. After six weeks of highs and lows, Tennessee finally decided to sit Mariota (on a clear downtrend) and put Tannehill at the helm, and that seemed to work well for everyone in the team. And yes, that included almost-forgotten A.J. Brown.

Remember, Brown is just a rookie. A rookie on a mediocre offense up to now at least led by a boom-or-bust quarterback without much upside to him. But Brown had shown flashes of quality earlier in the season, mostly in his debut (13 fantasy points in Week 1, catching three passes for 100 yards) and in Week 4 (94 yards and two touchdowns on three catches for 24.4 fantasy points), but Mariota never targeted more than five times. So yes, your thinking is right, Brown has been good for the little volume he has seen.

Now, with Tannehill tossing the ball around, Brown was targeted eight times for a season-high. Again, his efficiency was high hauling in six of those eight passes to rack up 64 yards for a good 12.2 points. This and his first-week performance come to show how he can be a pretty usable player if he gets targeted more in this offense, with an even higher ceiling if he gets one touchdown or two.

Not only is Tannehill bringing a different dynamic to the team, but Tennessee is also entering a favorable two-game period in which the Titans will face the second- and seventh-worst defenses against WRs. They will play against Tampa Bay and Carolina and as long as Tannehill keeps putting on at least average performances he’ll retain the no. 1 role. To all of this, Delanie Walker had to leave Sunday’s game due to an ankle injury and if he misses time that will open the door even more to Brown’s getting more volume and targets. This is a clear week to add him to your team and start him at the Flex position while Tannehill keeps manning the Titans offense (and even more if Walker is confirmed out for a while).