Why Panthers’ Derrick Brown is dominating his competition and only getting better
When the Panthers arrived at training camp in July, defensive tackle Derrick Brown had a closed-door, “heart-to-heart” conversation with new defensive line coach Todd Wash. While the pair had worked together during the offseason program, Wash decided to wait until camp to have a constructive and critical conversation with his top pupil.
Brown, a 2020 first-round pick out of Auburn, was coming off a career year despite a mid-season coaching change. Still, Wash told Brown that he expected more from him this year.
“Basically, up until this point, I think he was a little bit of an underachiever and that’s what I told him,” Wash told The Observer this week. “And he did not like that at the time, but it was also the truth. And he said, ‘Coach, I appreciate it, but I’ll prove to you that I can do it and do it well.’”
Ahead of camp, ESPN put out its annual list of the top 10 defensive tackles, which is voted on by NFL coaches, execs and scouts. Brown didn’t make the cut outside of an honorable mention.
Wash, in his conversation with Brown, made sure to bring up that ranking as a motivational point.
“I think that hit home a little bit for him, and he’s got a lot of pride,” Wash said.
Derrick Brown’s ‘pure domination’
Since that conversation with Wash in the summer, the 6-foot-5, 320-pound defensive lineman has been on a tear. Brown has posted career-high season totals in tackles, run stops and quarterback hits — with three games remaining.
While the Panthers have slumped to a 2-12 record — with head coach Frank Reich being unceremoniously fired after just 11 games with the franchise — Brown, 25, has thrived within defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero’s system.
The word “dominant” has been tossed around the Panthers’ locker room like confetti whenever Brown’s name has been mentioned.
“It’s just pure domination,” rookie guard Nash Jensen said. “No matter who he is going against, he doesn’t play down to anybody’s level, and he plays higher than anybody he’s going against.
“Whether it’s one of the worst guards in the league or (Dallas Cowboys guard) Zack Martin — who is a (potential Hall of Fame) gold jacket — (Brown is) just out there dominating. He knows all the calls, he’s an insanely smart player — it’s just a lot of fun to watch.”
Though Brown’s teammates have noticed his knack for getting the best of opposing linemen every week, he isn’t super keen to brag or boast about his play. He’d prefer for his play do the talking, as he enters the conversation for his first Pro Bowl nod.
“I get those moments in the game where I know I’m doing pretty well during the game,” Brown said. “But, at the same time, it only takes one play to screw everything up you did that day. … It’s one of those things I always think about before I try to go and just do something crazy, that I gotta just keep doing my job, even on the best of the days and even the worst of days.”
‘Just watch the tape’
Those unfamiliar with Brown might skim the Panthers’ weekly box score and assume he’s a linebacker. Brown is collecting tackles in droves, as he pounces on ball-carriers with consistency.
Despite playing on the defensive line, Brown has produced 79 total tackles this season, which ranks second on the team behind linebacker Frankie Luvu’s total of 104. Brown’s 58 solo tackles place him at the top of the league at his position, according to scouting service Pro Football Focus (PFF).
Brown’s run-stopping ability has been particularly impressive, as PFF credits him with a career-high 41 stops on the year. That’s the top mark in the NFL among interior defensive lineman entering Week 16.
“Everyone wants to get 10 sacks,” Brown said. “But at the same time, in order for you to get pass rush opportunities, you’ve got to be able to be efficient in stopping the run.”
While Brown has only produced one sack on the season, he has been a consistent pressure player upfront. Through 14 games, Brown has produced 23 hurries and 11 quarterback hits, with the latter total a career-high.
Brown’s 85.3 overall PFF grade ranks eighth overall among interior defensive linemen.
“Just watch the tape,” Evero said last week. “Obviously, there’s a lot of run production, hurries and things of that nature, the interception — but if you watch the tape, you’re not going to find a lot of players playing at a better level.”
Brown’s low sack number might cause him to be overlooked by the casual fan in Pro Bowl voting. But Wash, who has coached in the NFL since 2007, has a pretty simple explanation for why the defensive lineman isn’t stacking big numbers in that category.
“What a lot of people don’t know is that when you play four technique (defensive end in an odd front), you’re not an attack player,” Wash said. “You react to the block first, and then you have to transition into your pass rush. A lot of the guys who play in these attack fronts, they stop the run on the way to the quarterback.”
Sack numbers aside, Brown’s coaches and teammates see his all-star effort on film.
He is constantly disrupting the opposing offense and creating plays for others by taking on more blockers and shoving them out of the way.
While the average spectator might not see his consistent impact in stat columns, Brown’s teammates will tell anyone who will listen that he’s one of the smartest, toughest and most talented players on the field every weekend.
“I love how he’s playing right now,” Luvu said. “He’s playing at an elite level — Pro Bowl-caliber.”
The ‘crazy’ play
The New Orleans Saints’ offense was marching at Caesars Superdome toward the end of the first half of a tight Week 14 battle. The Panthers needed a defensive stop, and Brown was the man to make the move.
Brown engaged with Saints center Erik McCoy while spying quarterback Derek Carr’s movement in the pocket. Carr launched a pass to the middle of the field, but its flight path was almost immediately disrupted, as Brown leaped straight up to smack the ball out of the air. The ball ricocheted off the helmet of Saints right guard Cesar Ruiz, and as Brown landed his cleats back onto the turf, he ripped the ball out of the air for an interception.
“That just shows his athleticism,” veteran backup quarterback Andy Dalton said. “Obviously, really talented, and at any moment, he can make a game-changing play like that.”
Brown, who has batted down four passes this season, wasn’t expecting to come up with the pick. Ever the modest mauler, he attributes the turnover to being in the right place at the right time.
“Yeah, that play was crazy to be honest,” Brown said. “It was more so luck than anything. I got the tip and then when I look up, the ball is just still kind of floating there off the (offensive lineman’s) helmet. I was able to reach up and grab it.”
When Brown got back to the sideline after the interception, Wash had a joke waiting for him. The defensive line coach, who is known for his repetitive drill sessions in practice, had a “told you so” moment with his top talent.
“Once we got on the sideline, I was joking with him,” Wash said. “I said, ‘See, that’s why we do ball drills every Friday.’ He starts laughing. He’s just a big, tremendous athlete that is only going to get better.”
Technically speaking
Brown chuckled at that joke, but the defensive lineman believes there is a ton of value in Wash’s consistency.
The lineman attributes his growth at the defensive end position, at least partially, to Wash’s gamut of daily drills, which began in the offseason program, drifted into training camp and have continued throughout the regular season.
Brown has jokingly nicknamed the consistent reps as the “county fair of drills.”
“All that technique — over and over and over again — that stuff is just like wired into our brains,” Brown said.
Brown was the seventh overall pick in his draft class. He’s always had natural talent. But he believes he only recently started to receive the technical insight he needed to thrive at his position.
With back-to-back career seasons under his belt, it’s clear the newfound technical support has made a big impact on his production output.
“That was the biggest thing because before I felt like I didn’t necessarily get that when I was younger as a player,” Brown said. “But these last two years, that’s kind of been the difference.”
While Wash consistently pounds his lessons into the heads of his linemen, the longtime position coach — and former defensive coordinator — credits Brown with having a dedicated work ethic. Wash compares Brown’s durability, consistency and professionalism to the likes of six-time Pro Bowl defensive end Calais Campbell and Super Bowl-winning nose tackle Brandon Mebane.
Coaches and teammates polled by The Observer rave about Brown’s study habits in the film room and his deliberate approach in practice.
Brown is definitely the most physically imposing player in the Panthers’ locker room. He’s also one of the smartest, too.
“I learned a long time ago that if you don’t know what you’re seeing then you’re not going to be a very good player,” Brown said. “Because, yeah, a lot of it is hustle, but at the same time, if you don’t do film study with it during the week, it’s not really worth a damn, because if you don’t know what you’re seeing, you’re not going to know what you’re getting.”
Well, the Panthers have studied the film on Brown, and they’re quite happy with what they got: a Pro Bowl-caliber anchor for their defensive line for the foreseeable future.
This story was originally published December 21, 2023 at 6:30 AM with the headline "Why Panthers’ Derrick Brown is dominating his competition and only getting better."
