9. Cameron Brown, Penn State
Height: 6’5″ Weight: 233
40-Yard Dash: 4.72 seconds
Bench Press: 16 reps
Vertical Jump: 35.5 inches
Broad Jump: 10 feet 3 inches
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
60-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Bio: Cameron Brown was a three-year letter winner for The Bullis High School in Potomac, Maryland. Over three seasons of play he notched 260 total tackles, and led Bullis to back-to-back conference titles in 2014 and 2015. He was a four-star recruit according to 247Sports.com, and entertained offers from Arizona State, Boston College, Duke and Illinois before selecting to play at Penn State. He was a rotational player for the Nittany Lions in 2017 before earning a starting spot in their overhang role, and has locked down that role for the school ever since.
Stat to Know: Something to watch with him is the number of missed tackles. From Pro Football Focus’ charting data, he missed 15 tackles on 83 attempts last season.
Strengths: Brown is a long, rangy outside linebacker type of player with length to lock down tight ends in man coverage. He is comfortable playing in space, with most of his snaps coming from a slot alignment. He will jam and re-route receivers with force and power, and breaks to his zone quickly and constricts throwing windows almost immediately after the snap. He evades blockers well when given the green light to blitz. Brown also shows good awareness in space, from scanning targets, passing off receivers in zone coverage and knowing where he is on the field and whether he can initiate contact with receivers or not. He can handle man coverage responsibilities well, particularly against tight ends of all types and running backs. He is athletic enough to stay on vertical routes from slot receivers as well.
Against the run, Brown is solid. He is more than willing to stick his nose down into traffic, and is willing to take on blockers at the point of attack, stack and shed them as best he can, and make the play. He has some moves that he can employ against both run blockers and pass blockers when he is tasked with blitzing. As a blitzer, his timing is almost immaculate. Brown has a good array of pass rushing moves, including a stutter-step, a hesitation move and a violent hand chop that he uses when attacking slower offensive tackles.
Athletically, Brown changes directions well, moves well in space, and shows the athleticism to handle the man coverage responsibilities he will face in the NFL.
Weaknesses: The missed tackles are a concern, especially when you consider his length and tackle radius. His 34 inch arms allow him to get to almost anything along his path, so the missed tackle numbers are surprising. Brown sometimes struggles to disengage from blockers, which is something he’ll need to work on as he transitions to the NFL. He also is sometimes a step or two late to a play, which given his athleticism can be attributed more to a processing speed issue. While other linebackers in this class trust their instincts and explode once they make a decision, Brown is a bit slower to react.
Conclusion: Brown is more of the modern NFL linebacker, who will rely on length and athleticism in space rather than instincts and downhill aggression. His size and ability to handle tight ends show up at times, and will make him a player who can stick on the field for all three downs. There are things that he needs to clean up and improve upon, but given where the game is trending, he is likely to get a chance to stick at the next level.
Comparison: Brown reminds one of Kyler Fackrell, the former Utah State linebacker who now plays for the New York Giants. Both players rely on above-average height and length for the position to make an impact.