2. Derrick Brown, Auburn
Size: 6-5, 326
The Good: Ultra-quick, tremendously powerful, and a phenomenal athlete for his size, he’s got all of that, plus the four-year production, plus the attitude and mindset to be a leader of a line right away.
He’s it. He’s the Face of the Franchise defensive player with the character coaches dream of. A marked man last year, he still came through with a brilliant season to close out his career with 170 tackles, 12.5 sacks and 33 tackles for loss. A little of everything, he’s a pass rusher, an anchor, and a big-time run-stopper who never stops working.
What a ride.
Always and forever War Eagle, Derrick. pic.twitter.com/vq16K9KQiR
— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) April 11, 2020
The Not-So-Good: The only slight knock is that he’s not all that smooth and he might have to rely on his power a bit more than his quickness. The guy is 326 pounds so he gets a free pass on not having defensive back fluidity, but his style might be tweaked a bit at the next level.
His job will be more to occupy blockers than to be the all-around producer he was at Auburn. There’s a chance he doesn’t have one dominant NFL trait once he gets into the starting mix.
NFL Draft College Perspective Thought: Brown falls into the If You Had 11 (This Guy)-Types You Could Rule The Football World category. He’s a special player with no real knocks on his game. Throw in the intangibles, and some team will be ecstatic to grab him just outside of the top five.
Projected Round: First