2017 NFL Draft: Defensive crushes for the Kansas City Chiefs

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Sep 26, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Ohio Bobcats safety Nathan Carpenter (35) and linebacker Blair Brown (33) tackle Minnesota Golden Gophers running back Rodney Smith (24) at the line of scrimmage in the first quarter at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /

Blair Brown – LB – Ohio

One of the reasons I decided to buy Pro Football Focus’ draft guide this season is because I really like some of their advanced stats. When looking at inside linebackers I took a close look at two of these stats, the first is the Run Stop Percentage that I just mentioned when talking about Stevie Tu’ikolovatu and also their Tackling Efficiency stat that shows how well they tackle by looking at missed tackles. When I looked at those two stats for linebackers in this draft class there was only one player at the top of both lists, Ohio’s Blair Brown.

I had never heard of Brown before so I decided to do some research. He’s undersized for a run stopping inside linebacker at only 5-foot-11 and 238 pounds but the guy is an absolute force in the run game. He was the top rated linebacker in all of college football in PFF’s tackling efficiency rating. The guy only missed three tackles in 742 snaps last season. That’s unreal. These weren’t just meaningless tackles either. Brown ranked third in this draft class in run stop percentage behind Rueben Foster and just ahead of Zach Cunningham (both first round prospects). Brown’s size (or lack there of) and his limitations in coverage will keep him from going high in this draft but Brown will be a monster special teams player and could definitely fill a role as a two down run stopper.

I know you may be concerned that Brown won’t be able to have the same success stopping the run in the NFL because of his size, but if you have doubts I highly recommend you check out his tape. Unfortunately, DraftBreakdown.com doesn’t haven’t any games specifically for Brown, but you can find him in action if you know where to look. While looking over their prospects I saw that they had four games for Ohio’s edge rusher Tarell Basham. Using his tape you can get a good look at Brown in action. I especially recommend watching him against Tennessee and their rushing attack (I’m also a huge Alvin Kamara fan as I mentioned last week).

Looking at those numbers and watching Brown on tape I am sold on adding this undersized run stopper in the mid to late rounds of the draft.

Finally, let’s look at one last prospect that I found on accident.

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