Eli Brown commits to Kentucky Wildcats Football
By Paul Jordan
Aug 5, 2011; Lexington, KY USA; Kentucky Wildcats helmet and football sit on the field during media day at Commonwealth Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports
While all of the Big Blue Nation were waiting for word of the NBA futures of the basketball Wildcats, Mark Stoops jumped in with a big commitment. Four star LB ELI BRown, one of the top 20 LB prospects in the country announced his commitment to UK tonight.
Guess its time to get the word out i am now committed to University of Kentucky!! #bbn
— Eli Brown (@32_brown) April 22, 2014
Brown, from Warren East High School in Bowling Green, is rated as the second best player in the state of Kentucky behind Damien Harris. Nationally, Rivals has Brown as the #8 OLB and the 110th best player in the 2015 class. It’s a huge grab for Mark Stoops and company as UK beat out Ohio State, Penn STate, and USC, among others for the commitment. Brown was a former Vanderbilt commitment but de-committed in October.
Here is a bit of what ESPN says about the newest Wildcat:
OVERALL TRAITS
| Size-Strength-Range | Safety size with linebacker explosion. Plays bigger than measurables. Will likely get recruited to play outside linebacker or a hybrid SS role if he does continue to add size and fill out. Functional strong and wiry but better not as effective in a phone booth runs well showing good range and closing speed. Speed is straight line and more linebacker oriented than safety. |
| Instincts/Take On Skills | Displays sound diagnosing skills. Stays square to the line, flows with quick and easy movements laterally and keeps proper leverage on the ball carrier. Would like to see quicker reaction skills on misdirection to consistently beat the cutoff block but flashes the inside pursuit quickness to make inside-out. Utilize length to stay clean when scraping but struggles when blockers get into his body. |
| Tackling | Strong and balanced in the open field; breaks down in a textbook fashion at times. Possesses natural explosion on contact with good pop from his hips and lower-body. Drives ball carriers back when he wraps up but needs to avoid just looking for the shoulder hit and wrap up more firmly. |
| 3rd Down Capabilities | Shows good blitzing ability; comes off the ball quickly, can bend and closes on quarterbacks with good burst. Shows good range in coverage but lacks great man-to-man skill-set for a smaller linebacker, which would be needed if recruited to play a hybrid role. |
| Bottom Line | Brown is an athletic linebacker prospect with a lot of natural ability and upside. Can run, close and hit at an upper-tier level. May not be an immediate impact guy but his upside his very high. |
| Junior Eval | STRENGTHS: Displays a long and lengthy frame with good upper and lower body playing strength. Flashes good short-area burst and long range speed. Shows good recognition skills. Takes proper angles in getting to the ball. Has both man cover and zone coverage ability. … AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT: Needs to improve his inside run stopping and overall stoutness between the tackles. Needs continued physical development. … BOTTOM LINE: Brown is a versatile athlete who can line up in multiple positions on either side of the ball. A player with good upside that will be interesting to track. |