NFL Draft Prospects 2019: Wide Receiver - A.J. Brown, Ole Miss
A.J Brown led Starkville to a state title in Mississippi, but decided to join hometown rival Ole Miss. Brown didn’t change anything about his decision despite receiving death threats via social media and the sanctions the Rebels received from the NCAA.
Instead, he focused on his work on the field, receiving first-team All-SEC honors as a sophomore, thanks to 75 catches for 1252 yards and 11 touchdowns. He even improved on his catch and yardage numbers last year, which got him voted into first-team all-conference once again.
The dynamic receiver, at 6’0½”, 225 pounds, has a compact build with good thickness throughout his frame. Brown primarily lined up in the slot, where he averaged over 12 yards per target these last two years.
I love the way he plays the game with attitude and aggression. Brown ran a bunch of quick outs to make it second-and-five consistently and was Ole Miss’ main target on bubble screens, where he fought through tackles for extra yardage.
His 1250 yards after catch these last two years were second in the nation, as he forced 23 missed tackles back in 2017. Brown shows strong hands and no fear around defenders. He runs several defenders over and keeps his feet churning through contact to break tackles.
He shows excellent awareness for defenders with the ball in his hands and is very elusive, making him hard to bring down in one-on-one situations.
However, Brown is not just a physical receiver, who does good work after the snap. He also shows some understanding for the intricacies at the position, such as widening his man to give himself more room to work the inside, changing up pace or stride length and dropping his hips to get to a dead-stop.
He really snaps his head towards the quarterback coming out of his breaks and rarely loses concentration when the ball is in the air for a little longer. Brown is very comfortable working the middle of the field, as he was pretty much the only pass-catcher to come into that area consistently for the Rebels.
He dropped only four of his 115 targets in 2018. Two of them came against LSU with one resulting from taking his eyes off it to make something happen after the catch and another one on a really high pass along the sideline, which would have been a highlight catch.
Brown takes pride in being a complete receiver as a blocker and is known for delivering some devastating blindside hits to guys in the open field. He really stepped up when teammate D.K. Metcalf was out for the final five weeks, averaging 134 yards per game on the outside against tough SEC competition, even if his team couldn’t win.
Brown doesn’t necessarily scare people vertically and isn’t as good in contested catch situations down the field as you’d expect from such a physical player. He doesn’t stick out with his ball skills or catch radius to me.
Occasionally, he will slow down after his break and not really come back towards the ball, allowing defenders to close on the throwing window. Brown also rarely faced press-coverage in the slot and was given easy yardage underneath, which were a big part of his production.
His worst showings have come against the best secondaries he has faced – four catches for 49 yards versus LSU in 2017, one catch for eight yards versus Alabama and four for 34 against the Crimson Tide last year.
Brown looked like the top receiver off the board before the start of last season, but with the emergence of his teammate D.K. Metcalf and questions about his top-end speed, he has slid a little in this pre-draft process.
However, he ran an encouraging 4.49 in the 40-yard dash at the combine and for the people who have really watched his tape – his game is not built around speed.
Brown is one of the more complete and productive receivers in this draft. The upside might not be as great as it is with some of these other guys in the draft class, but you get a consistent pass-catcher and a guy who will give it his all.
Grade: Mid-second