Bobby

Brown III

Brown appeared on the Thursday injury report, recording consecutive Limited Participant designations to close the week. The banged-up Rams defense needs all hands on deck, including the budding defensive line role player.

That should provide Brown enough time to heal and rehab in time for the home stretch of the season, which McVay declared as good news considering the injury is not thought to be season-ending. Brown has been a large part of the reason the Rams have over-performed against the run to this point in the season, ceding a respectable 4.3 yards per carry through five weeks.

A fourth-round pick from the Rams’ 2021 draft class, Brown didn’t see much action as a rookie. He appeared in 10 games and logged a single tackle. He only earned took the field for 22 snaps outside of special teams work. The loss of Brown dings the Rams’ defensive line depth slightly but shouldn’t affect their defense much during the six games he is out.

Brown (6'4/325) was awarded four-star prospect status by the major national recruiting outlets before making an impact right out of the gate, appearing in 13 games as a true freshman in 2018 while being named to the All-SEC Freshman Team. He started 11 contests in 2019, earning a commendable 82.3 overall defensive grade from PFF before breaking out last year with a career-high 5.5 sacks, 16 pressures and 14 stops as a first-team All-SEC performer. Brown has the brute strength to be useful in passing situations but lacks tact and nuance to his bull rush, grip and rip combination. He has plenty of strength to handle double teams and rarely gives ground against the run, but has stretches of inconsistent effort. Brown is still raw at 21 years old and has upside as a broad-shouldered, run-stopping interior lineman who comps out to former Washington fifth-round defensive tackle, Tim Settle. With the LA defensive line already having an established group of starters, Brown will be nothing more than a rotational run-stuffer early in his career. He’ll take on some of Michael Brockers’ role after the interior lineman left for Detroit in free agency.

Brown (6'4/270) recorded 22 tackles, eight TFL and 5.5 sacks in an impact junior season for a dominant Aggie defense that allowed only 21.7 points and 317 total yards per game this year. The former four-star recruit excelled in 2019 as well, earning a 82.3 overall defensive grade according to PFF. Brown is projected to come off the board in the pick 100-150 range which would likely land him in the fifth round.

Brown (6'4/270) indicated that Tide HC Nick Saban told him he could potentially see early playing time, a sometimes rare commodity with the ever-stacked roster in Tuscaloosa. “It’s not guaranteed because everything comes from work,” Brown said. "[Saban]'s also telling me they like me and I’m one of their top guys.” He could potentially visit Alabama again later this summer. As for other programs who are hot on the trail for Brown’s services, he singled out Florida State. In-state schools Texas and Texas A&M are also in the equation, here. The Arlington, Texas, native ranks as Scout.com’s No. 157 overall prospect for the 2018 cycle.

Brown (6'4/270) had initially planned on waiting until November 2 to make his commitment, but opted to take the earlier plunge for personal reasons. Texas A&M topped a pair of behemoths for his pledge, winning the day over both Oklahoma and Alabama. The Arlington, Texas, native indicated that Bama was his runner-up. The strong-but-technically-raw defensive lineman ranks as Rivals’ No. 184 overall prospect in the 2018 class.

ESPN’s Gerry Hamilton and Tom VanHaaren believe that Texas A&M represents the most real threat to Oklahoma hauling in the outlet’s No. 217 overall prospect in the 2018 class. Florida State, Texas and Alabama are also outside contenders for the pledge. Brown (6'4/270) already offers plus-functional strength, but needs to continue to work on his consistency on the technical level as he progresses toward collegiate play.

A long, winding road for Brown, who had initially been committed to Texas A&M up until just before the early signing period in December, when he flipped over to Alabama. Crucially, the 6-foot-4, 270-pounder did not sign with the Tide at the time, allowing him to eventually waft back to the Aggies. ESPN ranks the agile lineman as the No. 15 defensive tackle prospect in the 2018 class.

Brown (6'4/270) decommitted from Texas A&M on Wednesday, but is not quite ready to jump in with a new program permanently at this juncture. Alabama and Oklahoma are both in play for his February signature. The Arlington native named the Tide his runner-up at the time he initially committed to the Aggies at the end of October. We like Alabama to ultimately come away with his John Hancock.