2020 NFL Draft: Grading every first-round pick after rookie year

Grading every rookie from the 2020 NFL Draft: 7. Derrick Brown, DL, Carolina Panthers

2020 stats:

• 12 QB hits
• 2 sacks

The Carolina Panthers were laughable this year. Their 5-11 record screams just that. However, there was nothing funny when Derrick Brown stepped onto the field. The interior defensive linemen did all he could to pull his team up from the bottom-feeding position it has currently found itself in.

Grading just his performance and his performance alone, he did a helluva job. For players in his position, it isn’t about necessarily sacking the quarterback, although he did have two of those, it’s more so about collapsing the pocket and making the opposing signal caller uncomfortable. We also can’t forget about the four passes he defended and the near impregnable defense he played against the run. After running into a brick wall, backs started hitting the juke button and running on the outside against him.

Even with facing guys who were much more experienced than he was, Brown still managed to muscle through them to get a hit on the QB 12 times. The DL position isn’t one that grabs a lot of attention or fanfare but the sort of pressure he brings up the middle is exactly what quarterbacks hate to see and luckily for the Panthers, he’ll be there every Sunday for a long time.

Grade: B