The Raiders sent the Steelers third and fifth round picks to acquire an all-time WR in Antonio Brown. Though his fantasy value takes a slight hit leaving a near-perfect Pittsburgh set-up, Brown should remain a Top-Five WR in Oakland. He remains an elite Individual Talent (30/30), and the Usage should stay sky-high, considering Jon Gruden’s past successes with WR1s. Despite some “Surrounding Talent” and “Floor” downgrades, AB still grades out at 92 via our Stock Formula. He should be treated as a fringe first rounder, while spearheading the second-tier of WRs
Of course, going from a Future HOFer in Ben Roethlisberger to the underwhelming Derek Carr hurts. But this hit shouldn’t be over exaggerated. Afterall, Carr is just a couple seasons removed from MVP discussions, and sneakily set career bests in passing yardage (4049) and completion percentage (68.6%) under Gruden this season. This was all while throwing to a garbage heap at wide receiver. Brown drops -2 points on our “Surrounding Talent” scale, from 14/15 to now 12/15, but Carr is certainly talented enough to preserve Brown’s WR1 worth.
All-in-all, Brown’s Individual Talent, his expected high Usage, and Gruden’s track record with No.1 WRs all have me confident Brown will remain elite in 2019. Any fantasy discounts because of an “uglier” home or his offield antics should be capitalized upon, and Brown slides in as my No.5 WR and No.14 overall on my latest Big Board.
For more on Brown’s upside in Oakland and overall fantasy value, click here.
