Malcom Brown: 2012 Texas Recruiting Spotlight

Vitals

Name: Malcom Brown

Position: Defensive tackle

Height: 6-3

Weight: 295

Speed: N/A

School: Brenham

Rating (Rivals): Five out of five (6.1)

Offers

• Texas (committed 4/3/2011)
• Baylor
• Kansas State
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• Oklahoma
• Oklahoma State
• TCU
• Tennessee
• Texas A&M
• Texas Tech
• USC

Overview/recruitment

Scouting Report

Malcom Brown Highlights (via 247SportsStudio)

Following his commitment:

Possessing elite quickness and first step off the ball, the 6-2, 290-pound Brown is a gap-penetrating defensive tackle who makes his living in the defensive backfield. With the motor to pursue plays not only down the line of scrimmage, but also well down the field, Brown could give his highest level of effort more consistently and needs to work some on his leverage. However, when Brown does fire off the ball low, he's too much of a load for all but the most elite high school guards to handle and he has the physical tools to be a star at Texas.

The 3-4 defense employed by Tim DeRuyter at A&M didn't do the Aggies any favors in his recruitment, as Brown's talents move well beyond playing the run-stuffing nose guard position and taking on two blockers every play. Whether Brown's uncle was the major influence in convincing his nephew of that fact probably will remain an unknown, but suffice it to say that the Aggie scheme may have gone a long way towards pushing Brown in the direction of Texas.

From the International Bowl practices on Day 1:

Defensive tackle Malcom Brown is carrying some bad weight around his midsection and looked in the range of 300 pounds, but he still has his trademark quickness. When playing half a man, Brown consistently showed the ability to quickly swim into the backfield and in those situations, he's extremely hard to stop for any high school linemen. Judging by the results in high school and in these types of settings, it may be virtually impossible to stop him. He also showed off his pure power and ability to come low and hard off the ball driving Rice commit Spencer Stanley about 10 yards deep into the backfield with a bullrush during one-on-ones.

From UA practices ($):

Brown upstaged defensive tackle Eddie Goldman with a strong showing in Monday's practice. He does a great job of getting low and exploding off the snap. He has very good initial quickness which allows him to play with leverage getting underneath blockers. He strikes with brute force and does a good job of throwing blockers. He is active with his hands, not allowing offensive linemen to get inside on him. He had great success in one-on-one drills against a variety of offensive linemen.

ESPN evaluation ($):

When you are going against Brown you better keep your pads down because this defensive tackle prospect is going to get low. Brown is a kid with good size. He does not have eye-popping measurables and could use more bulk, but looks on film to be a fairly thickly built kid and should be able to add some more good size with time in a college weight program. You would like to see him work to be a little more consistent, but he gets off the ball well and shows some flashes off good initial quickness. He is a kid who gets low in his stance often times getting into a four-point stance. He is a kid that can get penetration and he fires off low and will attack half-a-man and quickly push his way into the backfield. He is tough when he needs to take on blockers. He will come out of his stance low and generate good power from his lower body and get under blockers pads. He brings his hands and is able to stand a blocker up and win the leverage battle. He does need to improve upper body strength and work to better press blockers off of him. He locates the ball well and flashes the ability to be able to play off the block and get to the ball though he does need to create better separation to help him more quickly and easily shed. He reads blocks well and gets hands on. He displays the ability to move well laterally in a short-area and quickly sidestep blocks. He has a good motor and is active along the line of scrimmage. He is not flashy as a pass rusher, but can be disruptive as he fires out low and quickly tries to work to the shoulder and get up-field. He needs to work to expand his pass rush arsenal as he develops. He is a good tackler, but can tend to drop his head at times and he needs to be sure to keep it up. He will play the nose some in his high schools three-man front, but Brown is likely best suited as a one-gap penetrating three-technique at the college level. Brown is an active player who could be a disruptive and productive interior defender at the college level.

What else is there really to say about Brown?

He's a five-star prospect now ranked 12th nationally by ESPNU (but somehow fifth among defensive tackles by Rivals) who has performed at the highest level both during the UA game and during practices, outplaying the highly-regarded Eddie Goldman.

Oh yeah, and he played some tight end for Brenham this year and it's pretty ridiculous that someone at nearly 300 pounds can make a play like this down the field:

Malcolm Brown Brenham DT Running down WR (via taker252)

Dude's motor runs hot. Always.

Though it's hard to contribute early at defensive tackle, Brown should be able to use his quickness and penetrating ability to step in as a situational pass-rusher at the least as a freshman, filling a similar role as Desmond Jackson and Chris Whaley last season. Given that Manny Diaz prefers to limit to snaps of his interior players to keep them fresh, Brown will have some opportunities to create havoc in the backfield.