Derrick Brown comes out of the 2020 NFL Combine with some concerns

The overall importance of the NFL Combine is something we have talked about quite a bit. You see numbers and then change opinions on players based on non-football work.

However, there are always numbers that standout.

While Henry Ruggs III, Tristan Wirfs, Mekhi Becton, Isaiah Simmons and Jonathan Taylor turned heads with their huge performances.

However, there were a couple of top prospects who sent up red flags.

Over the next month, leading into the 2020 NFL Draft we’ll look at some of the good and bad numbers and the potential pro comparisons for that player.

We’ll start with Derrick Brown, who has been bandied about as the best defensive linemen in the 2020 NFL Draft.

First, understanding the combine numbers:

Brown measured in as a mountain, but there was one giant red flag that came up.

Brown did okay in some of his testing, but his 3-cone performance and 20 yard shuttle times are hard to look at.

Brown tested in the 10th percentile in Combine history among defensive linemen with his short shuttle which is a concern, but his 3-cone is one of the worst for a prospect mentioned in the top five in recent memory.

An 8.22 3-cone is one of the 10 worst since 2000 and no prospect who had that type of 3-cone has ever gone in the first two rounds. Louis Nix III was taken with the 83rd pick in 2014 with a 3-cone of 8.29.

Brown would be the first player with a 3-cone over eight seconds (along the defensive line) to be drafted in the first round since 2001, when the Jacksonville Jaguars took Marcus Stroud. Stroud played for 10 years and made three Pro Bowls, so that is a great high end comp for Brown.

Stroud, Akiem Hicks, Linval Joseph and Jordan Phillips seem to be the best case in terms of play style and athletic testing.

On the other side you have Terrence Cody, Gabe Watson and Nix as the players who did not make it in the NFL.

Only Stroud was taken in the first round.

Do the numbers scare you, or are you buying Brown still?