A.J. Brown (WR, TEN) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues

OWNED IN: 10% of Leagues

ANALYSIS: Slowly but surely A.J. Brown is becoming a true offensive weapon for Marcus Mariota in Tennessee. Yes, Tennessee. Not the best attack of the league, without the best play-caller in the NFL, but still good enough for Brown to out-perform his expectations. After a booming debut against the Browns and two middling performances in Weeks 2 and 3, it looks like Brown is back on track after putting on monster Week 4 performance.

Even after being selected in the second round of this year's draft with the 52nd pick, Brown never seemed to catch much attention during the fantasy draft process in comparison to others. If his last game is any indication of his true ability, though, more than one would be mad at passing on him. In Atlanta this past weekend Brown posted his best numbers of the season: 94 yards on three receptions (three targets) with two touchdowns on the game. This is obviously not a performance to expect weekly but shows his ceiling and potential even on a low-usage pattern.

Brown hasn't been very reliable when thrown the ball. He has a 58% catch rate, with just 10 receptions on 17 targets. His receiving yards, though, have remained high and he's got an average of 13.1 yards per target, not bad for someone with such low catch percentage. Even he's not the most agile player, Brown has shown the ability to gain good chunks of yardage on the ground after the catch, averaging 8.3 yards after getting the ball.

Depending on how you look at it, Brown's usage could be cause for concern or relief. He's been part of the fourth-most snaps among teammates even under Tajae Sharpe (concern), but he's been able to do enough to lead the team in receiving yards with 223 (by a good 50-yard margin over second-best Corey Davis) and touchdowns (relief). Brown is also the best fantasy points producer of the team other than Derrick Henry, and it looks like he's being eased into the game step by step. If he can keep up his production when his usage goes up, he's a lock to add to rosters in any league no matter its format. With an incredible 90% availability at the end of Week 4 you should take advantage of his situation and add him to your roster without hesitation. His woes in Weeks 2 and 3 can easily be attributed to the inconsistency of Mariota, and you'll be betting on how the quarterback perform to see rewards from Brown, but on average and through the whole season he should be someone to keep in your bench (and move to the starting lineup on good matchups or hot streaks) all year long.