Derrick Brown on combine results: 'Tape does all the talking'
Derrick Brown has four years worth of an impressive resume to offer to NFL teams come April's draft. And he thinks a subpar showing at the NFL Combine doesn't at all reflect that proven football skillset and impact.
"Well, you know, if you care about the three-cone drill as much as handling a double-team, then hey, go for it," Brown said after Auburn's 2020 Pro Day. "If that's what you think, that's what you think. I can't do nothing about it."
The 6-foot-5, 323-pound Brown, considered a franchise 3-technique defensive tackle in the draft, performed near the bottom among DTs in the majority of events at the combine in Indianapolis last month.
He was 34th out of 38 defensive linemen in the 40-yard dash, tied for 29th of 32 in the vertical jump, 24th of 29 in the broad jump, 27th of 27 in the three-cone drill and 20th of 26 in the 20-yard shuttle.
Fortunately for Brown, he won't be required to do any of those drills prior to strapping on his helmet and lining up opposite an offensive line every game.
Yet the results have generated some doubters, particularly the advanced analytics site Pro Football Focus, which said last week Brown does not project as a top-tier pass-rusher in the league, and also dropped him from No. 9 to out of the first round in its latest mock draft.
And Brown is taking notice of the naysayers across the country. His Twitter likes are full of random NFL fans — and some draft analysts — not including Brown in their top players, calling him overrated or hoping their team doesn't draft him.
"It tells you nothing about how you play football," Brown said of the combine results. "So, I mean, I don't necessarily think it's even the teams or coaches that worry about it. I mean, you know, tape does all the talking for me that anybody needs."
Brown's tape is such: 2019 SEC Defensive Player of the Year, the first unanimous All-American at Auburn since 1990, and some legitimate Heisman buzz midway through last season while he was spinning into backfields to destroy running backs, rumbling down the sideline with forced fumbles or throwing offensive linemen into their own quarterback for a sack.
“Everybody don’t know that Derrick is one of those — like, he’s one of a kind,” former Auburn defensive lineman Marlon Davidson said. “The way he approaches the game and the way he approaches life, even though he’s got his kid and everything, I’d say it’s a different mentality. You know what I mean? Just, him playing, man, when Derrick gets going, he gets going. You can’t stop that.
"So, you might as well just get on for the long haul, because Derrick’s going to go destroy.”
Brown wouldn't be in this position — with accolades and dominant highlight reels aplenty — if he hadn't returned for his senior season. He was projected as a first-rounder after his junior year but felt his Auburn journey wasn't quite complete.
Brown said, in hindsight, he made the right decision staying another year on the Plains. And he's sure it will translate into hearing his name called early on draft night.
"You know, it's the moment I've been waiting for all my life," Brown said. "But you know, it's just the beginning."
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