Brown had more opportunities than Ward
It’s important to remember when comparing the two players that the NFL looked a little different back in the late 90s and early 2000s. While Ward and Brown had careers that overlapped two years, the NFL became much more of a passing league just within the past decade.
As a result, Ward never received more than 160 targets in a single season and he had four seasons with the Steelers in which he received 95 targets or less, according to Pro Football Reference. On the other hand, Brown had 5 seasons with over 160 targets and only received less than 100 targets once (his rookie season).
Shockingly, Brown averaged 157 targets over an 8-year span with the Steelers from 2011 to 2018. Given the 8 most targeted season by Hines Ward, he still averaged only 133 targets per season. Brown was given more opportunity than Ward due to the high-volume of passes in more recent Steelers offenses.