The Cardinals are having a minicamp this week, and after Day 1 a player getting talked up is second-year wideout John Brown. "I expect huge things from him this year," says Carson Palmer. "There is something different about him."
Palmer made those comments to NFL.com reporter Alex Flanagan. In fact, though, Brown's strong play shouldn't be overly surprising, since he put up excellent numbers with Palmer in the lineup, and tailed off dramatically when Palmer landed on injured reserve with a knee injury.
In six games that Palmer started, Brown caught 20 passes for 315 yards and 3 TDs. Projected over a full season, that's 53 catches for 840 yards and 8 TDs.
In 11 games Palmer missed, Brown caught 32 balls for 415 yards and 2 TDs. For a full season, that would have been 46 grabs for 604 yards and 3 TDs.
Even as a third receiver, if Brown gets to work with Palmer for a full season, he could be a nice fantasy option.
The with-and-without Palmer numbers for Brown last year are presented below.
| BROWN WITH PALMER (SIX GAMES) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | No | Yds | TD |
| SD | 2 | 29 | 1 |
| WAS | 4 | 43 | 0 |
| @ OAK | 2 | 41 | 0 |
| PHI | 5 | 119 | 1 |
| @ DAL | 2 | 10 | 0 |
| STL | 5 | 73 | 1 |
| Total | 20 | 315 | 3 |
| Avg | 3.3 | 52.5 | 0.5 |
| BROWN WITHOUT PALMER (11 GAMES) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | No | Yds | TD |
| @ NYG | 3 | 28 | 0 |
| SF | 4 | 52 | 2 |
| @ DEN | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| DET | 5 | 69 | 0 |
| @ SEA | 3 | 61 | 0 |
| @ ATL | 2 | 40 | 0 |
| KC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| @ STL | 2 | 22 | 0 |
| SEA | 3 | 54 | 0 |
| @ SF | 4 | 51 | 0 |
| @ CAR | 4 | 34 | 0 |
| Total | 32 | 415 | 2 |
| Avg | 2.9 | 37.7 | 0.2 |
--Andy Richardson
