The Panthers used their top-10 draft pick this year on Derrick Brown. A lot of people (present company included) preferred they’d take a more versatile defender – specifically Isaiah Simmons instead. It’s only been four games. So far Brown is making a far bigger impact, though. Simmons only played a handful of snaps for the Cardinals in their loss to the Panthers this week and he’s only been on the field for 45 defensive snaps (17%) this season.
Brown had his welcome-to-the-NFL-rookie moments the first few weeks, highlighted by two inexcusable third-down penalties against Tampa. That said, he has been flashing some eye-catching power and is obviously going to be a force defending the run. He’s also cleaned up the mistakes and has earned high grades from Pro Football Focus the last two games.
This week, Brown earned the highest overall grade (89.1) of any rookie defender and ranked fourth among all defensive tackles.
Derrick Brown's Week 4 grade: 89.1
▪️ 1st among all rookie defenders
▪️ 4th among all NFL DTs pic.twitter.com/1Nj12ZnBkR— PFF College (@PFF_College) October 6, 2020
Not bad.
Remember, it’s only four games and there’s still literally years to decide the Brown vs. Simmons debate. For now, Panthers fans should just be happy their top pick is learning fast and living up to some high relatively high expectations for a rookie.
If Brown stays healthy and starts making strides as a pass rusher, he has the potential to be something special.
