DeVonta Smith Might Have an A.J. Brown Problem Now

By Matt Schauf | Updated on Mon, Nov 24 2025 6:15 PM UTC

Eagles WR DeVonta Smith posted a solid receiving line in Sunday's come-from-ahead loss to the Cowboys: 6 receptions for 89 yards. He even drew a team-high 11 targets, edging A.J. Brown by one. That followed games of seven and five targets for Smith and marked just the third time this season he reached double digits. Part of that is Philly's low-volume passing offense, but Smith also might have an emerging issue in the team's shift toward Brown.

2025 Fantasy Football Impact

The embattled Brown has garnered 10+ targets in two straight games. His 50% share of first-read targets over that span ranks second in the league, behind only Seattle's Jaxon Smith-Njigba, according to Fantasy Points Data.

Smith ranks just 32nd among all WRs and TEs over the same span at 27.5%. And that's down from his 31.4% rate over eight shared games with Brown through Week 10.

Smith ranked 12th league wide for that span, with Brown trailing narrowly behind (30.7%, 15th).

Zeroing in on first reads gives us a better sense of the offense's plan on a particular play, rather than who happened to get the ball thrown his way. And Brown has always led Smith in this category since arriving in Philly:

Year	Brown	Smith
2022	32.0%	28.9%
2023	36.6%	25.6%
2024	42.1%	33.8%

A bigger number for either guy obviously leaves less available for teammates. But you can see by the numbers that the rates for the two WRs have not followed an inverse correlation in their seasons together.

In simpler terms: More first-read targets for one hasn't necessarily come at the expense of the other. Brown and Smith clearly dominate the Philly pass distribution in general.

But the hyper-focus on Brown the past two weeks certainly can't help Smith if it continues.

Smith has been the more efficient player all season, making target volume not quite as important for his numbers as for Brown's.

Expect both to again rank among the our top 24 for a favorable home matchup this Friday with the Bears.

And even if Smith doesn't recapture his higher target rate, he should remain a solid-to-strong weekly play against a fine WR schedule.

Matt Schauf, Editor

Matt has earned two Fantasy Pros accuracy awards for IDP rankings and won thousands of dollars as a player across best ball, dynasty, and high-stakes fantasy formats. He has been creating fantasy football content for more than 20 years, with work featured by Sporting News, Rotoworld, Athlon, Sirius XM, and others. He's been with Draft Sharks since 2011.