A.J. Brown vs. DeVonta Smith: Who Is The Better Fantasy Football Draft Pick In 2026?
Jonathan Fuller breaks down who the better click is in your 2026 fantasy football drafts between two former teammates, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
Fantasy football draft season is in full swing. Whether you’re playing best ball, dynasty or redraft, you’ll probably be on the clock soon, maybe even while you are reading this. Throughout your drafts, you will face a number of tough decisions where it almost feels like you should flip a coin to make your decision. When you're on the clock, you have to make a decision in a short amount of time, so we at Fantasy Life are going to help you be prepared to make those decisions by putting those players under a microscope to arrive at a final verdict on who to take.
For this series, I will be evaluating players on three primary criteria:
- Talent
- Opportunity
- Bust risk
Talent and opportunity combine to create the upside profile, but we must always balance that against the risk of a player letting you down. How you weigh the upside vs downside can be subjective and format-specific, but I will do my best to lay out how I am thinking about those tradeoffs.
For the second edition, I am going to examine two former teammates who are now the top WR on Super Bowl-contending teams: A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
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The Case for A.J. Brown
A.J. Brown has scored more fantasy points than DeVonta Smith in each of the last four seasons while playing in the same offense. During that four-year stretch, Brown had more targets, receptions, receiving yards and receiving TDs than Smith did despite playing in one fewer regular-season game. From an efficiency standpoint, AJB has been above 2.0 YPRR in every season of his career, while Smith has only done that once in his five NFL campaigns.
That seems like a pretty strong case for Brown being the better player of the two. Now that he has been traded to the Patriots, AJB should benefit from more WR-friendly QB play and an offense that is likely to throw the ball more than Philly. A better player in a better environment is as straightforward a case as you can make in fantasy analysis.
That is a strong case on its own, but it doesn't even account for the possibility that Drake Maye could take another major step forward in his third season. We saw Maye ascend to a level that put him in the MVP conversation, but he is only heading into his third NFL season and will be just 24 years old when the season starts. There is a chance that Maye could take another meaningful jump forward and actually win the MVP award in 2026. That kind of season would require a monster campaign from his top WR and makes me think that a career-best season isn't totally out of the question for AJB.
The Case for DeVonta Smith
Everything I said above is true, but it doesn't tell the full story. Brown was meaningfully better than Smith from 2022-2024, but last season they posted nearly identical reception and yardage totals. Brown also posted a career low YPRR. It was still very good, but it was a meaningful drop off from his prior worst season (2.06 YPRR last year vs a previous low of 2.50 YPRR).
Smith is 1.5 years younger than Brown and firmly still in the prime of his career, while there are real concerns about AJB's injury history. Most of the headlines focused on the fact that Brown was unhappy with his role in Philadelphia and that his relationship with Jalen Hurts had clearly deteriorated. At the same time, the Eagles didn't seem to put up too much of a fight to avoid losing their WR1. I consider Philly a sharp organization, particularly the front office, so it is notable that they were so willing to move on from Brown. This decline in efficiency, injury history and the Eagles' willingness to let him go should at least make us consider the possibility that he could be a player in decline.
The Eagles also have a new offensive coordinator, which opens the door to improved efficiency and a slightly different role for Smith now that he is the clear WR1. This is firmly in the 'unknown' category, but a bounceback season for this offense will probably require Smith stepping into a larger role and proving that he is capable of handling WR1 volume and carrying the offense at times.
The Final Verdict - Should You Draft A.J. Brown Or DeVonta Smith?
If fully healthy, I would prefer A.J. Brown over DeVonta Smith. But the 'if' is carrying a lot of weight in that sentence. I have to assume that Brown has a higher chance of missing significant time or seeing a major decline in efficiency. This levels the playing field to some degree. For me, it isn't quite enough to eliminate the advantages of a more talented player playing in a more fantasy-friendly audience, but it is close.
Brown has proven that he can be a dominant WR, while Smith has never quite ascended to that level. The concerns about his knee are real, but in general, I want to bet on the player and training staff finding a way to manage the injury risk.
With Brown out of the way, Smith is a more compelling pick in his own right, but I have to give the edge on talent and situation to AJB. I want to be in on both of these players, but when given the choice, I will take the upside of A.J. Brown in the Patriots offense.
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