Kellen Moore has to find a way to get Barion Brown more involved in the offense. Moore laid out how Brown was viewed as more than just a return specialist when the New Orleans Saints drafted him, and last Sunday was a reminder that Moore needs to live up to that. Brown has only seen 10 or more offensive snaps in two games, the last two, and hopefully, that's a sign of what's to come.
Everything seems to be difficult for the Saints offense, and Brown is a big play threat at all times. For an offense that could use some easy offense, he has all the tools and now production to be part of the solution.
Brown caught a bomb 42 yards down the field and a 9 yard reception on a bubble screen. The screen is an example of easy offense, and the deep shot is about explosive plays that lead to shorter drives. We knew that was Brown's skillset coming into the league, and now we've seen the proof of concept
Barion Brown has been the Saints' best rookie and not by default
Calling Brown the best rookie on the team may not hold weight seeing that the class hasn't put up the best production in the first half of their debut campaign. However, Brown isn't the best of a bad bunch. He's been a quality pick for the Saints, draftmates aside.
The one thing that Brown hasn't done is return a kickoff for a touchdown. Because of that, he's flown under the radar and kind of lumped in with the rest of the class as disappointing. Don't fall into the trap, as Brown has been highly impactful as just a special teamer.
Everyone's looking for the huge highlight play, but the thing is that no one in the league has returned a kickoff for a touchdown this year. It's a bit of an unfair criteria to judge him based off that specific stat. A little deeper look into the stats and analyzing Brown's biggest moments, and you'll see just how impactful he's been.
Brown is top 10 in kickoff return yards, but his knack for putting the Saints into advantageous field position in critical moments is the biggest reason to be excited. Brown's 42 yard kick return put the Saints on their own 48 yard line for their last possession of the first half.
The result was the Saints only touchdown drive of the game, and ironically the only other time they scored Sunday was after Brown's big catch The Saints scored 10 points and Brown was the catalyst for both drives.
Brown kicked off the scoring vs the Giants by putting the Saints near the 50 yard line, once again at the end of the second quarter, with a kickoff return. This time, the result was a field goal, and the first score of the game. He later put the Saints near midfield with a 23 yard punt return that led to Saints points.
Brown's longest return was 53 yards against the Ravens. You guessed it, right before halftime. It put the Saints across midfield with barely enough time to get into field goal range.
That's three games in which Brown has made an impactful special teams play, and we're just 7 games into the season. He showed that same impactfulness on offense last week, and getting him more incorporated into the game plan should be a point of emphasis. Then he can truly cement himself as the best rookie in the class.
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