The New Defense on Film Part 1: Arthur Brown

We’ve decided to do a series here on BSL examining the film of many of the players that will make up the 2013/14 Ravens defense.  First in the series is 2nd Round draft pick Arthur Brown.  Be sure to check out the other entries in this series: Matt Elam and

Additionally, we took a closer look at the Ravens’ free agent additions. Check out Chris Canty, Elvis Dumervil, Michael Huff, and Daryl Smith.

The Ravens traded up in the second round to grab K-State’s OLB Arthur Brown.  He’ll have the unenviable pressure of trying to fill Ray Lewis’ shoes, and although there are some similarities between Lewis and Brown, we all know it is ludicrous to project a Hall of Fame career onto a rookie.  Let’s take a look at his tape to see where Brown’s strengths and weaknesses lie.

The Transition from College

Brown is listed at 6’0 and 241 lbs. He played the dual roles of team captain and outside linebacker in K-State’s 4-3 defense.  Based on his size he projects as a weak-side linebacker and can fit in either a 4-3 or 3-4.  In college he played on obvious run-downs and was also the lone linebacker in the Dime package. Because of this, he has a good deal of experience both taking on pulling guards and playing #3 receivers against spread teams. This flexibility is just what the Ravens were looking.

As a Run Stopper

For those of us who have studied Brown since (or before) the draft, we’ve all seen his lateral agility jump off the film.  After watching him in seven games from 2012, it is apparent that his lateral agility has not been overstated.  His number one strength is working his way through the “trash” on runs to the edges (e.g. outside lead, outside zone) and scraping over the top to make tackles at or near the line of scrimmage.  It isn’t farfetched to assume that the Ravens saw this attribute of his game and imagined plugging him in as a weak-side inside linebacker in their 3-4.

In the above play, the offensive guard charged with blocking Brown is clearly late so Brown has no issue getting to the edge to make the tackle.  The impressive aspect of this play is Brown’s change of direction to flatten his pursuit angle when the running back chooses one gap outside of his initial path.  Brown plays off of his linebackers well in order to scrape and keep the runner’s gain to two yards.

Plays like this are in the job description for weak-side linebacker.  The Ravens will likely spill and filter running backs toward Brown which will likely inflate his tackle numbers.  If nothing else, Brown should help the run defense that struggled against zone-rushing attacks last year.

Downhill Run Stopping

Art Brown played above average (and above my personal expectation) when asked to take on big bodies blocking as a part of Power run plays:

Although Brown was not able to take on lead-blocks consistently, he almost single-handedly blows this play up in the backfield.  It is safe to say that Brown was using the fullback as a running key so he is able to close the strong-side B gap fairly quickly.  More impressive is his angle inside the hole.  He hugs the inside of the hole tightly so the runner is forced to either hit the remaining crease or bounce it outside.  Not only does Brown get leverage on the fullback, he is able to reach up and bring down the back.

The above play is likely on Brown’s personal highlight reel because he does not attack downhill as successfully as heavier linebackers might. In fact, Brown too often tries to utilize his elite speed (for a linebacker) to swim around lead blockers. The guards and fullbacks only get bigger in the NFL and attacking them head-on may be an issue for this developing player.

In addition, offenses began to use Brown’s downhill aggression against him by running play-action or read-option-action in the backfield and targeting a tight-end sneaking behind him in coverage.  Although this happened on a number of occasions, it is impossible to know his running keys or game-plan as laid out by the coach.  His reaction to the read-option run and pass game weren’t as big of a strength as others have made it out to be.

Defending the Pass

It was no secret that the Ravens linebacking corps was well below average in covering receivers, backs, and tight ends last season.  It was a weakness that (fortunately for us fans) was not exploited in the playoffs as much as it should have been. Arthur Brown’s measurables provide him with the athleticism to run with receiving threats in the middle of the field.

The K-State linebackers played a lot of zone coverage underneath a Quarters shell but this play is one of the few where Brown is solely responsible for one receiver.  The result of the play (incompletion) is not due to Brown’s coverage, it is clearly a poor pass.  But Brown played with good positioning given his match-up.  The running back, Brennan Clay, has a typical “2-way-go” that doesn’t allow Brown to predict which direction he will break.  Despite this, Brown does an admirable job reacting to the Clay’s first cut and trailing him toward the sideline.

As alluded to above, Art Brown wasn’t able to exhibit his man-on-man coverage skills very often in college.  His usual man-coverage role was playing running backs in the flat (i.e. screens, double screens, swings) where he often made open field tackles in space due to his balance and agility.

Rounding out Art Brown’s Skill set: Blitzing

Blitzing is not entirely scheme.  It is an art form that can be honed by using subtle methods of setting up O-lineman, disguising blitzes, and playing with violent hands.  Unfortunately Brown’s capacity to do these things is a relative unknown.

Brown times the snap and gets to the QB with impressive burst.  His subtle change of direction en route to the backfield is encouraging but there isn’t much to break down here (or on the rest of his very short Blitz Tape).

Art Brown did not have the opportunity to blitz very often.  Generally his blitzes were of the Green Dog variety (rush if RB blocks) which have a low percentage of getting home.  It would not surprise very many if the Ravens asked Brown to rush from a number of different angles on the field due to Dean Pee’s affinity for secondary motion and zone blitzing.

Overall

Brown is an exciting addition to the Ravens.  The clearest knocks on his play are his size (which will show up in tight quarters) and his propensity to avoid rather than shiver and shed blocks.  He seems like a Week 1 starter at the WILL linebacker spot and his skill-set makes the prospect of starting Rolando McClain in the middle much more palatable.  McClain has the size and power to take on strong-side blocks while Brown can scrape and clean up behind him.