Texas A&M sophomore Eddie Brown has been upgraded from the unknown defensive lineman to arguably the best player the Aggies have in the middle of their front seven.
"He went from [defensive coordinator Joe Kines] saying, 'put the little guy in,' because he didn't know his name, to, 'put Eddie in,'" defensive line coach Buddy Wyatt said. "That's because he can make plays. He's athletic. He's tough, and you know what you're going to get with Eddie."
Kines hasn't had to scream for Brown to get on the field lately. The 6-foot tackle has started the last four games after making 14 tackles and two sacks in the previous four. Over his starts, he's made 11 tackles with another sack.
"Backing up or playing first string, it really doesn't matter because I got tackles and sacks when I backed up," Brown said. "I'm still playing the same way."
Brown's consistency comes from his attitude and his work ethic, which coaches say is all out, all the time.
"I just come out and work real hard and try to beat every offensive and defensive lineman in anything I do, whether it's in the weight room or running on the field," Brown said. "I feel I have to make every tackle, that I've got to be around the ball. It gets me motivated to chase the ball downfield and make every tackle."
Brown's hustle hasn't gone unnoticed, especially when he's chasing backs out of bounds 20 yards downfield, which has happened more than once.
"Eddie does one thing naturally that you try to teach a defensive lineman to do and that is run to the ball," Kines said. "Not only does he do a good job at the point of attack, once he takes care of his assignment, he has a tremendous motor. We all learn from Eddie. He does a good job with his pursuit angles. We've gotten to where we depend on Eddie. One thing that's been consistent is Eddie's played extremely hard every snap."
Brown is short for his position, which is one of the reasons Wyatt believes he wasn't recruited as heavily as some of the other defensive linemen in his class. He moved up the charts quickly as an Aggie and has played in every game since arriving on campus last year.
Wyatt said some of Brown's playing time was out of necessity and that the coaches would've prefered to bring him along a bit slower. But Brown sped up the process with his play.
"That's been the exciting thing about Eddie," Wyatt said. "He played D-line in high school, but he also played running back and fullback. He played a lot of different positions, kind of a jack of all trades and master of none, so he was still learning how to play the defensive line position. Now he's become more knowledgeable. He knows the ins and outs of playing the position."
With three sacks, Brown is tied for second on the team with linebacker Matt Featherston. But Wyatt believes Brown is better against the run because of his strength and his constant motor.
"With all that athletic ability and speed, that's one thing he needs to continue to improve on is his pass rush," Wyatt said. "He can pass rush because of his explosiveness and quickness. He just doesn't quite have the feel of when to turn his hips or use his hands to get rid of the block."
The Waller High graduate has bulked up from 255 pounds to 290 while at A&M to handle the interior line play, but he admits he's still playing more off of his natural athletic ability than knowledge of the position.
"When I'm out on the field, I try not to think about too much," Brown said. "I just focus on trying to snatch off the block and just getting penetration in the backfield as much as I can."
Brown knows that may be more difficult this week against OU's line. He says the Aggies will be up to the challenge as long as they remember their responsibilities.
"We're working on the fits right now, and if we get fitted up real good, we can put one linebacker in there with the down four and we can stop them," Brown said.
Brown's likely to get the opportunity to better his game-high five tackles, which he recorded last week in the 35-34 loss at Colorado.
He's also got at least one coach believing there are better times ahead.
"He's gone from 250, 255 to 290 pounds and hasn't lost any explosiveness or quickness," Wyatt said. "I think you'll see Eddie get a lot better. Then maybe he will go from 'the little guy' to 'Eddie' to 'Mr. Brown.'"
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