Nothing sexy about the Panthers drafting Derrick Brown, but he’s exactly what they need
We all know we are living in uncertain times these days.
But what the Carolina Panthers did Thursday night, choosing Auburn defensive tackle Derrick Brown with their first pick, was as close to a certainty as you can get when you are picking No. 7 overall in the NFL draft.
Brown was the safe pick. The sure pick.
This wasn’t bold. It wasn’t sexy. In fact, it was quite predictable, judging by the many mock drafts that had married Brown and the Panthers already.
But sexy isn’t necessarily right in the NFL. The Cleveland Browns were a sexy team before the 2019 season began.
I communicated with nine former well-known Panther players this week, and five of them wanted Carolina to pick Brown. He was a sure thing, they said.
Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons — who still was available at No. 7 — was more of a gamble. It’s a bit unclear what Simmons’ best NFL position will be — although Arizona was very glad to get him at No. 8.
Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said later that Brown and Simmons were rated “very close” on Carolina’s draft board. As expected, the Panthers didn’t have a shot at one of the top three quarterbacks, as all three were chosen within the first six picks. It was Brown, Simmons or trading back. I slightly preferred Simmons, but in all my pre-draft conversations, I’ve also said that getting either Simmons or Brown would be a minor coup for Carolina.
Brown will be a Day 1 starter for the Panthers at defensive tackle, whenever the NFL season actually starts, and will help solidify what was a horrid run defense in 2019.
“You build from the front,” general manager Marty Hurney said shortly afterward, speaking about how he and new coach Matt Rhule want to restructure the Carolina defense.
You have to remember that the Panthers didn’t make this pick in a vacuum. The other three quarterbacks in the NFC South are “statues,” as former Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme put it to me in an interview this week. Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Matt Ryan — they all like to stand still and throw the ball quickly.
Although Brown is known as a run-stopper first, he will also provide inside pressure. And inside pressure, as Delhomme said, is a pocket quarterback’s “nightmare.”
Brown said in a Zoom conference call with Charlotte-area media Thursday night that he wasn’t only showing up to stop the run.
“Everybody wants to say I’m just a run-stuffer,” Brown said. “But I do it all.”
Brown has a nice back story. He returned to Auburn for his senior year and graduated. His mother works at Walmart and his father has a military background. He is adaptable. When he didn’t have enough weights around the house to continue training during the coronavirus shutdown, Brown said he went to The Home Depot, bought some orange buckets, filled them with sand and used those as weights.
The ideal scenario for the Panthers over the next couple of years: Brown teams with Kawann Short — who we already know can be an elite inside pressure guy when healthy. The duo gives Carolina the sort of 1-2 inside punch it had in 2003 with Kris Jenkins and Brentson Buckner and in 2015 with Short and Star Lotulelei. Those teams, not coincidentally, were the Panthers’ two Super Bowl squads.
The worst-case scenario: Brown ends up like Vernon Butler, another defensive tackle the Panthers took in the first round back in 2016, but at No. 30 overall. Butler was supposed to be a difference-maker, too. He instead turned out to be a bust.
As for Brown, he won’t be a bust unless injuries do him in. He will need to get better as a pass rusher, but Brown was a solid first-round pick. Not spectacular. Safe.
And that’s OK. These days, everyone tells you to “Stay Safe.” With this pick, the Panthers did.
This story was originally published April 23, 2020 at 10:35 PM.
