Panthers' Derrick Brown Finally Gets Accurate Praise from NFL Scouts, Execs, Coaches

Carolina's star defensive tackle has cemented himself as one of the league's best

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More offseason rankings and projections continue to be released as training camps across the league draw closer. The Carolina Panthers have already had four players featured in the NFL Top 100, which is voted on exclusively by active players.

Along with that list, power rankings, division predictions, and top 10 lists are dropping by the day. On one of the most recent top-10 lists, coaches, scouts, and executives ranked the top 10 defensive tackles in the NFL, and Derrick Brown is shown immense respect.

Derrick Brown Lands Top 5 in Latest Top 10 List

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ESPN's Jeremy Fowler dropped his latest top-10 list, this time for defensive tackles, with rankings compiled by NFL scouts, coaches, and executives. Brown landed at No. 5 on the rankings, which is completely fair. Brown is coming off a career year, in which he notched a career-high five sacks.

When talking about Brown, a veteran NFL assistant coach said, "We actively ran our running plays completely away from him". That's how good he is. The only reason he's not a household name is that he plays in Carolina."

This is a huge jump for Brown on the list, specifically, which is due to his recovery from a torn ACL that sidelined him for part of his 2024 season. Brown was an honorable mention on this same list last year, and now, after a fully healthy season, he's where he belongs.

Brown even received votes to be the No. 1 defensive tackle on the entire list, which shows that, even with him at No. 5, He is widely regarded as a top-tier DT.

Derrick Brown is Carolina's Best Player

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This list is just more vindication that Brown is the best player on the entire Panthers roster. Brown was ranked 90th overall in the NFL Top 100, which was the lowest of the four Panthers currently ranked.

Brown is the only player at his position on the Panthers who can say he's a top-five player. Not even Jaycee Horn can say that, who is elite in his own right but also has a ton of other talented corners to compete with in terms of rankings.

Defensive tackle is also one of the most important positions on a team, and stopping the run is dire for winning, and Brown does that as well as anyone in the league, so not only should Brown be ranked higher than all other Panthers in any list, but certainly in the NFL Top 100.