In light of Arthur Brown's number change and growth as a leader, I thought it prudent to rerun this profile shortly before the first game in order to really crank up the excitement level.
Brown's performance at Big 12 Media Days was superlative and justified Bill Snyder's faith in bringing him. Not even an event as nefarious as Shapirogate could slow him down, not with the NCAA giving him a clean bill of health.
Although his brother, Bryce, appears to be falling short in the leadership department right now, that's not a concern with Arthur. Translated: Get hyped. The dude's gonna ball. Follow the jump if you wish to reread what I wrote in July.
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#4 Arthur Brown |
Position: Linebacker Previous College: University of Miami Projection: Starter Status: On Scholarship |
Arthur Brown Jr. (b. June 17, 1990) is the savior of the Kansas State defense. Well, no, not really, but some of the hype flying around certainly could lead a disinterested observer to that conclusion. So could watching this repeatedly.
Arthur's story is fairly well known at this point, so I won't rehash it here. Instead, I'll just provide a simple point-counterpoint regarding what we can expect from our starting middle linebacker this fall.
First, guarded realism. He had a thoroughly unimpressive stint with the Hurricanes, collecting just 17 tackles, 0.5 tackle for loss and one fumble recovery in two years. And then he sat out of football for more than a year.
Yes, he was a phenomenon in high school, but was that a product of inferior competition (something he clearly didn't face in the ACC) or superior talent that, for whatever reason, simply didn't mesh with the Miami program?
We should find out this season. Now, the reckless optimism. Arthur has both the talent and opportunity to become the Big 12's Defensive Newcomer of the Year and a first-team All-Big 12 linebacker if he puts his mind to it.
He had nearly as many tackles in the spring game as he did in his entire college career thus far. The man was flying all around the field, sometimes running down backs who had a 15-yard lead on him.
And he has speed to spare. If there's one thing K-State's defense and especially its linebackers need, it's speed.
With his location in the middle of the 4-3, Arthur Brown will be asked to make plays in the offensive and defensive backfields, and from sideline to sideline. The rest is up to him.