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Home / frontnfl / 2021 NFL Draft Scouting Report: LB Baron Browning
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2021 NFL Draft Scouting Report: LB Baron Browning


Positional ranking: #5

Big Board ranking: #50

 

Overview

Position: LB

College: Ohio State

Class: Senior

Age: 22

 

Measurables

Height: 6’2 3/4”

Weight: 245 lbs.

Arm length: 33 1/2″

Hand size: 9 7/8″

 

Athletic testing

40-yard dash: 4.51 sec.

Vertical jump: 40.0″

Broad jump: 130.0″

Bench press: 23 reps

3-cone drill: 6.78 sec.

Short shuttle: 4.23 sec.

 

Strengths

Prototype size and plus length. Exceptional athleticism and movement skills. Very strong. Twitched-up aggression. Elite speed and explosiveness. Plays fast and physical. Great pursuit and desire to get in on tackles. Violent as a finisher. Will wrap up instead of using his shoulder. Quick reaction time. Great acceleration and closing speed. Gets to his target when he identifies it. Tremendous in man coverage with the size/skillset to match tight ends in the slot or out wide. Easily flips his hips in space as a zone defender. Excellent versatility. Fast getting to the quarterback when he blitzes up the middle. Has showed upside as an edge rusher. Smooth faking the rush and dropping back in coverage. Skillset to be a great quarterback spy. Decisive coming up to chase the quarterback when he looks to run. Experience as strong-side and middle linebacker.

 

Weaknesses

Instincts are just average. Can fill the wrong gap and allow a hole to be created. Focus on finding the ball leads to a lack of awareness versus blockers. Will get sucked up some in zone coverage due to aggressiveness. Hot and high tackling at times. Essentially benched in College Football Playoff after allowing Trevor Lawrence to get outside for rushing touchdown.

 

NFL comparison

Nigel Bradham

 

Conclusion

Overall, Browning is a fast and physical linebacker that seems to best fit as a “Robin” type sidekick that can often play in space. Some of the weaknesses are a definite concern, but teams should use Browning in a way that will play heavily to his strengths.

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