PodcastFrom Fantasy Football Today
AJ Brown TRADED to the Patriots! Fantasy Football Impact & Rankings Shakeup! (06/01 Fantasy Football Podcast)
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
20 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Jun 1, 2026
Published
Mon, June 1, 2026
6
Player insights
3
Players mentioned
Topics
A.J. BrownDeVonta SmithJalen Hurts
Player analysis
Player insights
A.J. Brown
PositiveRole0:02
A.J. Brown's trade to the Patriots is seen as a win for him, potentially increasing his target share compared to his time in Philadelphia.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:03
He averaged 9.3 targets per game in his last six games last season, indicating a strong potential for high usage in the Patriots' offense.
Insight pagePositiveInjury0:03
Despite dealing with injuries last season, A.J. Brown is still considered a very good football player.
Insight pageNegativeBust0:04
Concerns about A.J. Brown's efficiency have been raised, particularly regarding his career-low yards after catch per reception.
Insight pageDeVonta Smith
PositiveBreakout0:16
Devontae Smith is anticipated to step up as a number one receiver, especially with A.J. Brown's targets now available.
Insight pageJalen Hurts
NegativeRole0:10
The loss of A.J. Brown is expected to impact Jalen Hurts' performance, potentially lowering his draft position.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00I'm Draymond Green, host of the Draymond Green Show.
0:03I'm always looking for anything that actually helps with performance and recovery without turning into a complicated routine of powders and supplements.
0:10That's why Kayaks caught my attention. This is a ready to drink creatine booster that's engineered to work the way creatine is supposed to.
0:18It's Swiss engineered, sugar free, and it even won a global innovation award this year.
0:23The reason it's different is because most creatine drinks lose effectiveness sitting on shelves.
0:27Kayaks solved that with this really smart V-Cap design.
0:30The creatine stays sealed separately inside the cap until you open the bottle.
0:34So when you press it and drink it, you're getting the full fresh clinical dose right then and there.
0:41And it goes beyond creatine. You've got essential amino acids for muscle support, citrulline for endurance and blood flow, caffeine for focus,
0:48plus betaine, electrolytes, and plant extracts to help with hydration and recovery too.
0:52It's one of the few performance products I've heard about lately that genuinely feels innovative.
0:57Kayaks creatine EAA B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B- Booster? Visit ka-ex.com to discover more.
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1:30All right, we are talking to A.J. Brown and the Patriots.
1:34Who could have seen this coming? The only surprising thing today is that this is arguably the second biggest trade in the NFL.
1:41All right, so you guys, we talked about him this morning, A.J.
1:45Brown, and you had already been ranking him as if he were going to get traded.
1:50You'd already been ranking Devontae Smith as if he were, as if A.J.
1:55Brown were going to get traded. So this is obviously not a surprise, but agree or disagree.
2:00A.J. Brown to the Patriots is a win for everyone except Jalen Hurts and Romeo Dobbs.
2:05Okay. I don't know if I agree with it being a win for the running backs in New England.
2:12It's a big hit to Kayshaun Booty. Yeah, those guys too.
2:15Keith's worried about the hit to Booty. Okay. I also just disagree that this is the third biggest news item of the day.
2:23Well, we got the Jaredverse trade. And then what else is there?
2:27What do we mean? Odell Beckham's back. Yeah, baby.
2:29What about Juju? Odell Beckham's back. Yeah. All right.
2:32Well, anyway, it's a first round pick in 2028 and a fifth round pick in 2027 going to the Eagles for A.J.
2:40Brown. Who was on a per game basis 16th best in non-PPR, 12th best in half in full PPR last year.
2:46He averaged by far a career low 2.09 yards per route run, but that's still really good.
2:52It was 17th amongst the wide receivers with 50 or more targets in between guys like Rasheed Rice and Chris Olave.
2:59So, you know, you can feel free to repeat anything you said earlier today, but Dave, first word on A.J.
3:05Brown of the Patriots. I love it. This is an opportunity for him to even see a higher target share than he had in Philadelphia.
3:13This is a dude who averaged eight targets per game last year in Philadelphia.
3:18When he finished the year, you referenced his last seven games.
3:21I'll reference his last six games. He averaged 9.3 targets per game.
3:25This includes the, this is the regular season, 9.3 targets per game, 19.8 PPR points per game.
3:31So I'd say that A.J. Brown is still a very good football player, even though he's coming off of year where he dealt with some injuries.
3:39He said that he was toast in a, in a Twitch stream, and then he came back and, and roughed up a lot of defenses.
3:47There are a number of data points that I've pulled up since this morning.
3:52I don't know what my favorite one is. I think I'm just going to go with this one.
3:58There were obviously a bunch of games last year.
4:01Drake may played 13 times may had a receiver get seven plus targets from him.
4:06And you can think about the receivers that he had, um, 10, 10, 10 of the 13 times a receiver at 13
4:13plus PPR points, eight times, eight of 13, 15 plus PPR points.
4:17And now he's about to get a receiver. Who's better than anybody that he had last year.
4:22And a guy that had 70% of his games in Philadelphia with at least seven targets.
4:27I think he's going to get a ton of work.
4:31I think he's going to be really good and you should draft him.
4:35Where do I have him round three? I think I'm in round three.
4:39Heath, you're next. I think I'm, I guess I'll be the pessimistic guy on AJ Brown.
4:44I still think he's going to be very good.
4:47I think we all have him ranked as a number two wide receiver.
4:52I'm a low end wide receiver too. These guys are a little bit higher.
4:56It wasn't just the yards per route run that was down.
5:00It was pretty much everything efficiency wise that was down for AJ Brown.
5:04He's missed five games due to injury. The last two years had some injury problems in the past.
5:10I think my biggest concern might be he's always been a pretty good yak guy.
5:15And last year, a career low 3.4 yards after catch per reception.
5:18It's actually been trending negative the last three years.
5:21And I'm just worried. He's not quite, I think you think 29 year old AJ Brown, he should still be in his prime.
5:29I think he may be just passed. Jamie. I mean, look, obviously Heath makes some good points.
5:34I'm more in line with Dave on this one.
5:37I think just looking at the opportunity to go, as we said earlier, this is on paper, the best quarterback.
5:44I think he's going to play with from a passing perspective.
5:47You know, again, we'll see how that plays out.
5:50But I like the upgrade. I think they make this move on top of getting Romeo Dobbs to be a better passing team.
5:58The target leader last year was Stefan Diggs at 102.
6:01I'd be very surprised if AJ Brown's under 120 targets.
6:04He was at 121 last year in 15 games.
6:07Dave referenced the last seven games, the last six games, excuse me, which is even better.
6:12You take away the week 11 game, which started the stretch where he was getting double digits of targets.
6:19But you take the seven games, weeks 11 through 17, didn't play week 18.
6:23He averaged 18.6 PPR points per game over that.
6:26So obviously Dave, but he's looking at those two numbers.
6:29The 18.6 and then we say that 19.8. Yes, that's top five third again for a down here in 2025.
6:36But if he had done that for a full season, that's a top five receiver from from a point per game comparison.
6:43And then Jamie, Jamie, I'm sorry to cut you off your audios.
6:47Go ahead and hop back, hop out and hop back in.
6:50Sorry about that, Jamie. We heard everything you said, but sound a little wonky.
6:55Yeah, AJ Brown finished strong. So Dave and Jamie are a little more optimistic.
7:00I see as of right now, their latest thing I see is they have him 11th.
7:05And he was wide receiver one. Yeah, I've got him top 12.
7:09And he has him 20th. So it's a pretty big difference.
7:12Okay. I thought I thought that we were all wide receiver choose.
7:16Jamie, I'm sorry to cut you off. Anything to add?
7:19I don't know what you just said. We just talked a lot of smack about you, basically.
7:25I don't know if you want to defend yourself.
7:28No, I mean, you're just ****. It's okay. Oh, geez.
7:31No, I thought that Jamie's take was just like AJ Brown's 2025.
7:35It was like there was a lot of awesome things and then intermittent just disappearance.
7:40Yeah. Again, I said this morning, but on the big show that we did, but he did have a preseason hamstring injury.
7:47He re-aggravated it midseason. So I can't sit here and say how much it affected him.
7:52I don't know, but it could have affected him because he obviously got off to a slow start.
7:58Now, I think it absolutely impacted his efficiency and his ability to cut in his breaks and add yardage after the catch.
8:05There were times where it took him forever just to restart running after he stopped his feet.
8:11I'm exaggerating a little bit. It didn't take that long, but you get the idea.
8:16I think when he's healthy, he's still one of the very best receivers in football.
8:20Hope so. I think Heath is a little skeptical of that, which is totally understandable, especially because he is 29.
8:27We shouldn't overlook that. Now, I struggle with – I don't know how you guys – He's not 29 yet.
8:33It's his age 29 season. End of the month.
8:36Yeah. This month. Yes. Okay. So you guys have him right around – Dave and Jamie – right around Rasheed Rice, behind
8:44Nico Collins and George Pickens, and Heath is considerably lower than that.
8:47Okay. Heath, you've been the pro-Jalen Hurts guy. Uh-huh.
8:50I've got, let's see, five games over the last two years.
8:54Four games because they both didn't play in the Week 18 game in 2024.
8:58Without A.J. Brown, Jalen Hurts had two huge games, 28.5 points, 33.4 points, and six points for passing touchdown leagues, and two bad games.
9:06Well, 10.9 points, 18.3 points in the other two.
9:09How big of a deal is this for Jalen Hurts?
9:12It is a big deal. I don't think – it's kind of like the same thing as Devontae Smith, though.
9:19Like, comparing what they did when A.J. Brown was not there kind of works and kind of doesn't because Makai Lemon's there now.
9:26So I still think Devontae Smith, Makai Lemon, Saquon Barkley, Dallas Goddard, plenty good enough of weapons for a guy like Hurts
9:34who's going to produce probably four or five points per game with his rushing to still be a high-end QB1.
9:40I think he's definitely a top-six guy you can kind of argue in that four through six range.
9:46I'm Draymond Green, host of The Draymond Green Show.
9:49I'm always looking for anything that actually helps with performance and recovery without turning into a complicated routine of powders and supplements.
9:56That's why Kayaks caught my attention. This is a ready-to-drink creatine booster that's engineered to work the way creatine is supposed to.
10:03It's Swiss-engineered, sugar-free, and it even won a Global Innovation Award this year.
10:07The reason it's different is because most creatine drinks lose effectiveness sitting on shelves.
10:12Kayaks solved that with this really smart V-cap design.
10:15The creatine stays sealed separately inside the cap until you open the bottle.
10:19So when you press it and drink it, you're getting the full, fresh clinical dose right then and there.
10:25And it goes beyond creatine. You've got essential amino acids for muscle support, citrulline for endurance and blood flow, caffeine for focus,
10:32plus betaine, electrolytes, and plant extracts to help with hydration and recovery too.
10:37It's one of the few performance products I've heard about lately that genuinely feels innovative.
10:42Kayaks creatine EAA booster. Visit ka-ex.com to discover more.
10:44That's ka-ex.com. Anybody have Hertz outside the top six?
10:47I don't. Okay. Well, he didn't run as much last year, right?
10:51So if he doesn't run as much and he doesn't have A.J.
10:55Brown, you know, I think you're going to see him probably drafted closer to 10 than you will to five.
11:02Just based on how most people are going to feel about this.
11:06I mean, again, you're taking away his number one receiver.
11:09You're replacing him with a rookie. They are throwing a lot of capital at the position, but it's, you know, an older Marquise Brown.
11:17It's an unproven Dontavian Wicks. They just added another receiver from the Packers today.
11:21I forget his name. You know, so they're trying to, you know, clearly address this.
11:26They were trying to address this before today happened because we were all anticipating this.
11:31And drafting Eli Stowers, another tight end to, you know, throw in the mix as well.
11:36So there's definitely a lot of options for Jalen Hurts to use to replace A.J.
11:41Brown. And so I think the hope would be is that Makai Lemon is the one that ascends to that role or steps into that role.
11:49And the other guys just sort of help fill the void that they didn't really have last year with a third receiver, a fourth receiver.
11:58You know, now their depth chart is much more at least proven.
12:01So we don't really know what to expect from Hurts.
12:05I mean, the whole offseason narrative from the beginning was he was a problem.
12:09He was a problem with Kevin Petullo. He was a problem in accepting what this offense was.
12:15He was a problem, you know, just in, you know, I think moving forward in his career.
12:20And it felt like from some people there that he was taking a step backwards.
12:25You know, that whole ESPN story that came out.
12:28So, you know, I think he's at a little bit of a crossroads.
12:32You could see a situation where if they missed the playoffs this year that maybe everybody's gone, you know, head coach on
12:39down from a lot of key parts here. So it's an aging offensive line.
12:44We know that they had to, you know, it sounded like course, you know, you know, some people to come back.
12:51And so we'll see how this all plays out.
12:54I think you're just looking at it, what Jalen Hurts track record has been and the fact that he will still run
13:01to what level we'll find out, but he will still run.
13:05He'll still give you rushing touchdowns. I think you look at it as, I don't know, four through six, but I think
13:12probably six through 10 is kind of where I think Jalen Hurts will end up.
13:17Jalen Hurts or Jaden Daniels? Daniels. Daniels. Hurts. Jalen Hurts or Joe Burrow?
13:21Six point. Burrow. Shiesty. I've got Burrow. Who's Shiesty?
13:24Joe Shiesty. That's what they call him? I'm not good with nicknames.
13:28Drake May or Lamar Jackson? Whatever, double A. Jackson.
13:30Lamar, but it's close. Lamar. May is third for everybody right now.
13:34Allen, Jackson, Drake, May. Okay. So Dallas Goddard. A good year last year.
13:39I think he's been top 13 per game. Who was that damn stat?
13:43Almost every year of his career, basically. But every year with A.J.
13:47Brown. And obviously targets are being freed up here.
13:50And Dallas Goddard, in those four games I mentioned without A.J.
13:53Brown over the last two years, he had four targets one game.
13:57Then he had 11. Then he had 10 in a game that Devontae Smith also did not play.
14:03No, he had eight that game. Devontae Smith missed that game too.
14:07And then he had only three targets in week eight on 20 pass attempts from Hurts, but he caught two touchdowns.
14:14So I can't sit here and say that he's had a huge target boost without A.J.
14:19Brown, but there really hasn't been that many games.
14:22So, Jamie, a boost for Dallas Goddard? Yeah. Again, you know, you're looking at a guy that's been very productive as a fantasy option.
14:30You know, sometimes it's been touchdown related, sometimes not.
14:33But I have to assume that he's going to compete to be second on the team targets.
14:38You know, we're asking a lot of Makai Lemon, and I think he's going to do well.
14:44Probably won't see the best of him until the end of the year like we see with a lot of rookies.
14:50But clearly the runway is open for both of these guys.
14:54You know, you take 121 targets off the field.
14:57You know, a guy that's been around 140 targets when healthy.
15:01And the opportunity is there for him in a new offense to, you know, still be very productive.
15:06So, if you are inclined to wait on tight ends, I think he's, you know, anywhere from 10 to 14, 15 in
15:14that range will probably be his average draft position.
15:16But there's a lot to like about Dallas Goddard.
15:19You know, he's an approve it deal, one-year deal, you know, signed back with Philadelphia this season.
15:25Most likely he's playing for whatever team is going to pay him next year because of this Dowers draft pick.
15:31So, I think this is an opportunity to, you know, if you wait on the position, take a guy that's been productive
15:39and may, I don't think, compete to be top five.
15:42But I think certainly could be in that 8 to 12 range pretty safely if he plays a full year.
15:48Commanders week one, Titans week two, Bears week three.
15:51Two of those three games, he might be covered by rookies.
15:55I think it's a great schedule for him to start the year.
15:59Dallas Goddard or Travis Kelsey? Kelsey. Still Kelsey, but that's close.
16:02Dallas, go ahead. No, I just think there's like eight tight ends that most of us are excited to draft.
16:09And then there's eight more that are probably going to score right around 10 fantasy points per game.
16:15And Goddard's in that second tier. And Kelsey's in there as well.
16:19And there's several other guys too. You've done this at least in one draft that I recall, Adam.
16:24But like if you want to take Kelsey and Kittle and, like this is a good and.
16:30Goddard's a good and to take him with. Yeah.
16:33Yeah. And as Heath mentioned earlier, all the stats of how great Devontae Smith has been.
16:38Basically been a top 10 caliber receiver when A.J.
16:41Brown or really when Dallas Goddard hasn't been on the field.
16:45He gets. Jamie, I think you had a stat about Devontae Smith's targets when A.J.
16:49Brown hasn't played. It's three games. It's been nine plus targets in all three of those.
16:55He's 14.2 PPR points or more. There was 14.2, 14.9, like 21 something.
16:59So the big spike game raises his average up.
17:02But clearly he's going to get opportunities. And all you heard from Philadelphia this offseason when they were talking around the A.J.
17:09Brown trade was Devontae Smith could be a number one receiver.
17:12We value him as number one receiver. He's going to produce like a number one receiver.
17:18Like this is a guy that's getting, you know, rocket ship emojis because this is what we've been waiting to see is him in this in this role.
17:27Now, again, we don't know what Makai Lemon will do.
17:30You know, there's there's huge potential for him as well.
17:33There's going to be, I think, some surprise weeks because we haven't had a third receiver, a fourth receiver, a guy that stepped up consistently.
17:41And again, Marquise Brown's resume, not great the last couple of years, but still productive enough that he could be a factor.
17:49We saw at the beginning of last season. Remember when, you know, Kansas City was struggling with Rice coming back from injury,
17:56not being their suspension and Xavier Worthy got hurt.
17:59Marquise Brown got off to a good start last year for Kansas City.
18:03So it wouldn't shock me if he has a few good weeks, especially early in the season.
18:08We'll see Dontavian Wicks. You know, there's there's been some opportunities for him to produce when he's gotten targets as well.
18:15So it's going to be a little bit different.
18:18I still think Devante Smith, though, is worth taking in the round three range.
18:23Also, not far after A.J. Brown comes off the board.
18:26I'm going to end it with this, guys. Jake May, A.J.
18:29Brown, any any Patriot, any Eagle. Oh, by the way, I just want to say one last thing.
18:35Saquon Barkley had four or five targets in all four games that he played over the last two years without A.J.
18:42Brown. But you look at any Eagle or any Patriot and you have to now just kind of guess their ADP.
18:49Who do you think will be the best value in drafts?
18:53Any Patriot or any Eagle? Yeah. I mean, for me, it's probably Lemon or Goddard.
18:57I'll say Jalen Hurts. I think Hurts might get drafted up a little bit too soon for it to be Hurts.
19:04I'm not sure. I'm not sure where Devante Smith is going to end up.
19:09I think people are going to be in on him.
19:12They're not going to. He's already been at that three, four turn.
19:16I think he's going to be. Yeah, I think he's gonna be like 30.
19:21He might even go higher than that. Mm hmm.
19:23I like the Lemon call, but I don't really know where he'll go.
19:28He's going to get pushed up now also because, you know, people were waiting for this.
19:33I'm sure to some degree. Yeah. What about Travion in early round six?
19:37That's what his ADP is right now on CBS.
19:40Okay, well, let's find. I mean, if Vermonje stays after him, I'd rather have Vermonje.
19:45Let's see where he's at. All right, everybody. I got to go.
19:49I'm sorry. Monday night and I got to get dinner on the table.
19:53So thanks, everybody. Appreciate the three of you taking time and our producers as well.
19:58And all of you for watching and listening. I'm Adam for Heath, Jamie and Dave.
20:03Talk to you tomorrow on Fantasy Football Today. Don't podcasts.
