NFL Draft scouting report: Auburn bull-rushing DT Derrick Brown

We hear a lot about the Arizona Cardinals “doubling down” anytime their selection of a top wide receiver is mentioned with the eighth overall NFL Draft pick.

But you could argue that defensive tackle Derrick Brown would represent some doubling down if he fell to Arizona at No. 8.

The Auburn product is widely projected to be off the board by the time the Cardinals are up, but he would give them yet another pass-rush addition to support outside linebacker Chandler Jones. General manager Steve Keim made that a priority in free agency by signing linebacker Devon Kennard and 341-pound defensive tackle Jordan Phillips.

Here’s the lowdown on Brown, a get-to-know-him profile before the April 23-25 draft.

Auburn DT Derrick Brown, 6-foot-5, 326 pounds

Damien Lewis is a 327-pound man, a starter along national title-winner LSU’s offensive line.

He’s also a projected second-day draft pick, and so that context leads us here: Lewis being shoved backward by another large man and into LSU quarterback Joe Burrow.

Steele new he had one of the best defensive lines in the country. All he needed to rush was three.

Here’s possible first-round pick Derrick Brown bull rushing a sack on Damien Lewis, who has been very good for #LSU this year. pic.twitter.com/c34287LT2F

— Brooks Kubena (@BKubena) October 27, 2019

That large man is Brown, the top defensive tackle in the class.

“Derrick Brown has as dominant a year of any interior defensive lineman, probably since (Nebraska’s Ndamukong) Suh,” Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy told Doug & Wolf on Arizona Sports last month. “The difference between those two guys … Brown plays hard every single game.

“You put in every game, they all look the same. He’s got a great motor. That doesn’t happen with most big men. Those guys are so hard to find.”

Brown played from 0- to 5-technique at Auburn, and his flexibility and ability to play as a two-gapping lineman make him a fine fit for the Cardinals’ 3-4 front — not to mention Vance Joseph’s versatile looks at the interior of the line.

He would put two unique pass-rushing threats inside, as he would join the addition of Phillips, who is coming off a 9.5-sack season with the Buffalo Bills.

Brown does it with pure power more than excessive explosion, but he’s not bad there either. It’s arguable whether he’s a better run-stopper or pass-rusher.

The biggest red-flag for Brown came at the NFL Combine, where he didn’t do well in some drills.

“You want top-10 dudes to be in the 85th percentile and up,” Doug & Wolf’s Ron Wolfley said.

“He doesn’t out-athlete the other guy, he bludgeons … he’s not a disruptor, he’s a destructor.”

Still, the tape doesn’t lie. Brown has shiftiness for his size.

His technique and pure power could make up for a lot of those bad agility concerns. When it comes down to it, it’s hard to argue that plays like this indicate he’s a poor athlete.

Derrick Brown forklifting an OL and then causing a strip sack to himself on the same play is unreal.

What a play. pic.twitter.com/bjqLx9S0DX

— Nick Farabaugh (@FarabaughFB) February 6, 2020

Alabama director of player development Rashad Johnson, who got an up-front view of Brown during his SEC Defensive Player of the Year campaign, said Brown met the hype.

“Just very, very powerful with his get-off. He uses his hands very well,” Johnson said. “Then he’s a d-tackle that can rush the passer and you don’t really find guys that can do that. Kind of a Darnell Dockett type guy, who was very special in that 3-technique type position where you can let him get off the ball and beat that one-on-one matchup.”

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