Penn State LB Cam Brown drafted by Giants: Here’s what New York is getting
Linebacker Cam Brown will join two former teammates and a former coach with his first NFL team.
Brown was taken No. 183 overall by the New York Giants in the sixth round Saturday afternoon. He was the fourth former Nittany Lion to be taken in this season’s draft after Yetur Gross-Matos and K.J. Hamler went in the second round and John Reid went in the fourth round.
He’ll join former teammates Saquon Barkley and Grant Haley on the roster, and former Penn State defensive line coach Sean Spencer, who’s the current Giants defensive line coach.
Heading into the draft, Brown was projected all over the map. He could be found as high as the fourth round in seven-round mock drafts or as an undrafted free agent.
The 6-foot-5, 233-pound linebacker is a long athlete who can disrupt in pass coverage, which will play to his advantage with the NFL becoming an increasingly pass-heavy league. He was used in that role at Penn State where he used his athleticism to attack downhill in the run game and stay with tight ends and running backs in the passing game.
Former NFL scout and current Ourlads general manager Dan Shonka sees a player who can use his length to his advantage in the passing game.
“He’s got really good range,” Shonka told the Centre Daily Times. “He drops into coverage and gets those long arms up. He bats balls down. When he’s in chase mode he eats up a lot of grass quickly because of his long strides. He shows some aggression moving downhill. He’ll explode into tackles and run through a tackle. I think he’s a lot more physical than people think.”
Shonka had Brown ranked as a fourth or fifth round pick heading into the NFL Draft because he doesn’t know if he can add the necessary weight to contribute at a high level in the NFL.
“He has to work to bend to keep blockers off his legs,” Shonka said. “He’s slender. He has to put on some weight, certainly, if he’s going to play outside over a tight end. You’d like to see him have more balance in his lower body. The big thing would be gaining a little more weight.”
Brown may need to add weight, but has proven he can already do that. He was listed at 210 pounds as a recruit on his 247Sports recruiting profile when he was a four-star recruit out of Maryland.
He still contributed as a true freshman at Penn State, starting two games and playing in 12, and tallied four tackles in the Rose Bowl that season.
The linebacker played in 12 games as a sophomore as well, but didn’t make his first start until his junior year. He started 24 of Penn State’s 26 games in the final two years of his career and was named a team captain as a senior.
He was named to the All-Big Ten third team by the coaches, All-Big Ten honorable mention by the media, Pro Football Focus All-Big Ten third team, and Phil Steele’s All-Big Ten third team.
Shonka projects the lanky linebacker to play outside linebacker, but thinks he can potentially stay on the field in passing situations.
“I think a 4-3 scheme lined up over the tight end (would be best),” Shonka said. “I think with some work he could play inside. I think he’ll start out on the outside but when you go to your sub packages, I think he’ll fit inside.”
This story was originally published April 25, 2020 at 3:57 PM.
