Bengals hope they have another mid-round steal in Brown

Coming out of high school, Andrew Brown was the No. 1 player in the country.

Four years later, coming out of the University of Virginia, Brown saw 157 players drafted ahead of him before the Cincinnati Bengals selected the defensive tackle with their second of three picks in the fifth round.

“Everybody was saying I was a bust, and I wasn’t doing anything in college,” Brown said. “There were all sorts of things, calling me soft. Just for me to get drafted, period, is a blessing.”

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The 6-foot-3, 296-pound Brown had offers from the top schools in the country as the Gatorade National Player of the Year in 2013, but Brown elected to stay close to home and play for the Cavaliers.

He didn’t develop into a starter until junior year and never lived up the hype that surrounds the national player of the year, finishing with 10.5 sacks and 26.5 tackles for loss in four seasons.

But Brown went to the Senior Bowl intent on showing off his physical gifts and sending every scout a message.

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“My whole mindset going into that week was to show everybody that the five-star Andrew Brown didn’t go anywhere,” he said. “I have always been here.”

Bengals defensive line coach Jacob Burney admitted it was Brown’s performance during Senior Bowl week that caught his eye and prompted him to go back and take a closer look at his game film.

“The guy is solid as a rock — that’s what he is,” Burney said. “He’s a disruptive guy, flies to the ball, strong. And they do play a 3-4 (at Virginia), but he moved out and played three-technique, which is why we like him. He’s just a solid, solid good player all the way through.”

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One knock on Brown at Virginia was discipline. He was ejected from two games last year, one for targeting and one for throwing a punch. But Burney said that doesn’t worry him.

“I didn’t consider that a character issue,” he said. “He’s not a character problem. As a matter of fact, he’s an example of what you want in the room and on the team with his worth ethic. I find him to be an example — an exemplary example.”

While the Bengals are deep on the defensive line, Brown will have a chance to earn playing time right away with the team still searching for more production at the other tackle spot next to Pro Bowler Geno Atkins.

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“He gives us another chance to have a vertical guy to compete in there and knock it around to see if he can make things happen,” Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said.

“They don’t even know the half of what is coming,” Brown said. “I am ready to go.”

Brown joins a long list of mid-round defensive linemen the Bengals have drafted, following Carl Lawson (fourth round, 2018), Ryan Glasgow (fourth round, 2018), Jordan Willis (third round, 2018), Andrew Billings (fourth round, 2016), Marcus Hardison (fourth round, 2015), Will Clarke (third round 2013).

Atkins was a fourth-rounder in 2010 and has been to the Pro Bowl six times in eight seasons.

“I know he is an absolute monster,” Brown said of Atkins. “It’s going to be an honor to play alongside somebody with such greatness, and to be able to soak it all up, being the young guy on the scene again. To be able to hone in on someone like him, I feel like it definitely going to elevate my game.”

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