Evaluation
John O.: Brown is an interesting downhill player. Despite being a safety, he has solid blitz skills. He comes downhill in the running game and fills gaps fairly well. His tackling isn’t flawless. He’ll miss a few. But he creates turnovers and plays several roles – blitzer, deep middle on passing downs, and a quasi-LB role at times when long yardage is needed. His movement in a straight line looks fine. His combine times aren’t known yet, but his straight line speed seems acceptable. The main issue will be his mobility side to side. His hips look a little stiff, and his stocky build occasionally gives him trouble getting to the sideline or into passing gaps. He anticipates at times which may help him. He had a great INT against Auburn via anticipating a throw and contorting his body to catch the ball. He plays a little like Edmunds although Brown is likely better at blitzing. He likely possesses less speed and agility than Edmunds though. If Edmunds departs, I could see Brown in the black and gold. His ability to cover TEs and play coverage generally will be the issue. He can do the rest once his tackling gets a primer. Penn State had a good pass rush this year plus useful blitz packages so it’s unclear exactly how much work in coverage Brown will need. He will clearly need work; it’s the question of degree that’s the tougher part of the equation. Overall, he’s either another Edmunds-type player or Anthony Smith so he may go in the draft anywhere between rounds 2-5. There’s a huge gap between those players.