Evaluating Analysts' Growing Belief That the Lions Should Draft Derrick Brown at No. 3 Overall
Move over Jeff Okudah. Time to make way for former Auburn interior defensive lineman Derrick Brown.
Momentum continues to build for the Lions to take Brown at No. 3 overall Thursday night instead of Okudah -- the former Ohio State standout defensive back that was seemingly a consensus pick prior to the movement for Brown.
"Good Morning Football" co-host Kyle Brandt and NFL Network analyst Bucky Brooks have both hopped on the Brown-to-the-Motor City train.
Brandt thinks he'd be a perfect fit in Detroit.
"I like the toughness that he (Brown) would bring to Detroit -- a team that I don't think is very tough," Brandt said during a recent segment on Good Morning Football, a program he co-hosts with ex-Lions wide receiver Nate Burleson.
Brandt added, "I love a big old tone-setter. And if you want to talk about Detroit needs help in the secondary, of course they do. I still subscribe to the philosophy that the best defensive back right now in the NFL is (Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle) Aaron Donald because he's in the quarterback's face every time he throws it. That's Derrick Brown. I've got you, Nate (Burleson). I'm with you, and I hope he (Brown) wears 'Honolulu blue' Thursday night."
Brooks also thinks highly of the defensive tackle, and has him going to the Lions in his mock draft.
"Derrick Brown, at the point of attack, is a grown man -- an unblockable force," Brooks said during a segment on NFL Network's "NFL Mock Draft Live" program last week. "His physicality, his toughness, his non-stop motor, plays well in Detroit. He is a dominant playmaker at the point of attack. I think you have to pull the trigger on the defensive tackle, if you're (Detroit head coach) Matt Patricia."
And then, there's Sports Illustrated's The MMQB senior writer Albert Breer, who believes that both Okudah and Brown are in play for Detroit at No. 3.
As part of his "mock draft sneak peek" from early Monday, Breer writes,
"On paper, Ohio State CB Jeff Okudah fills a need and fits the Nuevo Patriot-style of defense their building, in investing from back-to-front. But of late, I’ve heard rumblings that the coaching staff has taken a real liking to Auburn DT Derrick Brown. I’m sticking with Okudah here, for now. But I think Brown is very much a possibility."
It looks like it's down to Brown and Okudah for who the Lions will take with their first-round selection. I, for one, still see Okudah being selected.
It's a pick that Detroit general manager Bob Quinn can ill afford to mess up.
And if he does, it ultimately could cost him his job in Motown.
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