As the NFL draft nears, Cincy Jungle's own Cody Tewmey got a chance to talk with draft hopeful Ryan Brown.
A 6'6", 266-pounder out of Mississippi State, Brown played all over the Bulldogs' defense during his time in Starkville. He racked up 73 tackles, 14 tackles for loss and six sacks across 24 games as a starter over the past two years. That came mainly at defensive end, but he also played defensive tackle and outside linebacker occasionally.
Don't let his lack of production fool you. He showed the kind of burst and explosion that could help him become a solid pass-rusher in the pros.
Another reason for Brown's lack of more sacks is a foot injury he played with for much of the 2015 season. During the interview, Brown revealed a stress fracture suffered in his right foot in his third game of 2015, but still played in the remaining nine regular-season games. He then had surgery on the foot and missed the team's bowl game and hasn't gotten t to do much work this offseason leading up to the draft.
Brown was also regarded as defensive leader while displaying such as he played through the pain of a broken foot. He did not work out at his team's Pro Day on March 11th, but has been cleared since then and done private workouts with teams. Depending on how those have gone, we could see Brown drafted late on Day 3.
If nothing else, he'll be on a team's roster as an undrafted free agent battling for a spot through the preseason. Given the lack of the Bengals' depth at defensive end, Brown would certainly have a good shot at making the team in 2016.
Take a listen to his interview:
A big thanks goes out to Ryan for doing this interview with us. Good luck in the NFL draft and in the pros!