Stevie Brown solid NFL player?

Submitted by allezbleu on

Stevie Brown has featured in every game this season for the Giants at safety. He's made 3 starts and has 3 INTs so far, including a big one against the Redskins today.

(at 0:13) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjjElML2bzs

Multiple people have told me that he's the worst Michigan football player they've ever seen, and I must say I couldn't think of anyone worse...but it's really nice to see him have success in the Pro's.

flysociety3

October 22nd, 2012 at 1:09 AM ^

Sadly, I think Stevie was a victim of the you're a safety, JK you're a 'spinner,' JK you're sort of a Linebacker, JK you're a safety BS that was Rich Rod and Co.

Happily, Steview is showing off his athleticism and has been a wonderful representation of Michigan these past few weeks (his whole NFL career for that matter)...

Has been great in run support, too....

 

redhousewolverine

October 22nd, 2012 at 3:39 PM ^

Additionally, some of his worst play was as a sophomore under Carr's last season. During Brown's senior year, he was the second best player to Brandon Graham. Granted that wasn't a very good defense, but he took a major step forward from his Junior year to Senior year; he wasn't the problem on the 2009 defense (lots of problems). In retrospect, he seems like a guy who had the athleticism to be a great player but maybe needed a RS to get him to mature or learn how to play defense at a higher level (also, not having Gerg and Gibson would have helped anyone be a better secondary defender).

1 percent

October 22nd, 2012 at 1:12 AM ^

Ill always remember his int against Pryor during the year of infinite pain. Pretty sure that was the last play of the game because nithing else about that game I remember.

PurpleStuff

October 22nd, 2012 at 2:05 PM ^

Harrison was third on the team in tackles in 2008 while starting at safety for the first time as a senior under Rich Rod (he had backed up Englemon and Adams the year before and played in nickle situations).  He posted 7 TFL, 3 sacks, 3 PBU, forced a fumble and recovered 2.  His ONE SEASON!!! under Rodriguez was, again, far and away the most productive of his career. 

Let me guess, next you are going to tell me that Rich Rodriguez totally fucked up Brandon Graham's career as well?

FGB

October 22nd, 2012 at 1:37 AM ^

Anyone who thinks he's one of the worst MICH football player they've ever seen play, even in an exaggerated sense, is swayed far too easily by MGoBlog's hyperbole towards its whipping boy du jour, and probably hasn't been a fan for more than 5 years.

Also, anyone who encountered Tony Gibson as a coach at all gets a free pass (ha! i can play MGoBlog whipping boy piling-on too!).

michfan6060

October 22nd, 2012 at 2:14 AM ^

I don't really see the need to label any player as the worst Michigan player. Sheridan never expected to play. He just wanted to help the team and he was never going to succeed in that situation.

BigBlue02

October 22nd, 2012 at 2:09 AM ^

Ah yes, Stevie Brown, the guy who led the team in tackles his senior year, is the worst player in Michigan football history. Sometimes I think this board hated RichRod so much that any mention of a player from his 3 years here brings about the most irrational statements I've ever heard. It's tough to believe a thread about Stevie Brown doing well in the NFL could be so utterly dumb.

PurpleStuff

October 22nd, 2012 at 3:16 AM ^

Not sure what the fuck people are talking about.  Brown moved from SS to OLB in a 4-3 defense (yes, we played a 4-3 for 23 of the first 24 games RR was here) as a senior and had a very good year.  80 tackles (first on the team), 8 TFL (3rd behind Graham and only 0.5 behind Martin), a sack and an INT, and 3 PBU (more than anyone but Warren and, oddly, RVB).  If he hadn't burned his redshirt year he would have had an even more productive career.

You could maybe argue LB wasn't his natural position since he's playing safety in the pros but this wasn't a Cato June situation where a guy struggled in college and then excelled at a different position in the NFL.  Also, I'd like to know who should have played at LB if you want to keep Brown at safety in that defense, remembering that the coaching staff that actually did a shitty job recruiting defense from 2005 onward had left behind freshman Kenny Demens, Brandon Herron (demoted to 3rd string as a senior after playing the best game of his life), and the ghost of Marell Evans as the only non-newcomer options to play alongside Mouton and Ezeh. 

 

BigBlue02

October 22nd, 2012 at 10:47 AM ^

It's funny because if there was one thing RichRod actually did right on the defensive side of the ball in his 3 years here, it was move Stevie Brown to LB. Some comments are just ignorant when it comes to RichRod....hate drives them, not logic. I understand disliking him, but let's at least give him credit where it's due.

Ventilator

October 22nd, 2012 at 2:28 AM ^

He got a key fumble recovery in a game three or four weeks ago. He also pancaked an O-linemen while blocking on an INT return against the 49ers. Pretty impressive.

Magnus

October 22nd, 2012 at 6:47 AM ^

The frustrating thing about Steve Brown was how great of an athlete he was.  Some teams were recruiting him as a corner coming out of high school, and the kid could fly.  You can see his speed on that INT return.  He was also really strong and a solid tackler...  He just had too many brain farts during his first few seasons.

Tater

October 22nd, 2012 at 7:11 AM ^

The redemption of Stevie Brown in his senior year was one of the brighter spots in a down year.  I'm happy to see that he is doing well.  Sometimes, when a person is a great athlete in HS, they can get away with a lot and not bother to listen to coaching, because they can rely on their athletic ability to get them through.  

I think Brown "got it" his senior year and became coachable.  And now, he is a young man who makes more money than the majority of the posters here.

lhglrkwg

October 22nd, 2012 at 7:32 AM ^

only in the same way JT Floyd was terrible. They clearly have the athleticism and brains to be a great player but terrible coaching apparently did them in. Stevie bounced back and so has JT. I'm sure that under Mattison, Stevie would've been pretty awesome

Magnus

October 22nd, 2012 at 8:12 AM ^

Brains, maybe, but JT Floyd does not have the athleticism to be a great player.  He was burnt several times on Saturday by MSU's so-so receivers, but Maxwell couldn't connect with them. I will say that he was a better tackler this week than earlier in the season.  I'm glad he's working on that aspect.

Coldwater

October 22nd, 2012 at 7:33 AM ^

I'm glad he's become a serviceable pro. My lasting memory of Stevie was him getting faked out of his shoes by the infamous David Cone in the 2009 Spring Game....

jerseyblue

October 22nd, 2012 at 9:09 AM ^

I watch all of his games and he still occasionally has his "Doah!" momemts where we takes bad angles and tackles air as he did at UM. Though you forgive him because he's a ballhawk.

Johnny Blood

October 22nd, 2012 at 9:10 AM ^

I think you can remove the question mark from the post title. 

He is having a good year for the Giants and he is a good athlete.  He had a very solid senior year for us and appears to have continued to improve with good coaching.

chitownblue2

October 22nd, 2012 at 9:25 AM ^

I liked Stevie as a college player, but I think some detail needs to be added here.

Brown only made the Giants' roster because Tyler Sash was serving a suspension for PEDs for taking Adderal (which makes no sense?). So, Brown was taken to fill his roster spot.

Before Sash came back, Kenny Phillips, the Giants All-Pro FS got hurt - which put Brown in the starting lineup.

Now, I think Brown has played well, and I think now that Sash is back, he'll stick on the roster in some capacity, and even compete with Sash to fill in until Phillips returns. But I don't think he's a starting-caliber player.

The Giants do have a package they use regularly that uses 3 safeties, the 3rd being a quasi-linebacker. Heretofore, that's been Will Hill, but I could see Stevie slotting in there.

JHendo

October 22nd, 2012 at 9:41 AM ^

You don't know why adderall is considered a P.E.D.? Well you clearly have never taken Adderall before, because it makes perfect sense. I only took it a couple times around finals time back in college, but believe me, it's one hell of a P.E.D.!

randyfloyd

October 22nd, 2012 at 9:30 AM ^

I will get neg'd but I always felt that nobody could waste good talent, like Lloyd. So many of his teams underachieved but those years (as well as the RR years), have given me a greater appreciation for Hoke and his ability to get the most from his players.

Magnus

October 22nd, 2012 at 9:53 AM ^

Hoke has one season under his belt.  Yeah, he went 11-2, but it was with some of Lloyd's players/recruits and mostly Rodriguez's players/recruits.  

Lloyd won a national championship, won a bunch of games, and got a bunch of players to the NFL; several of them have been high NFL draft picks and successes at the next level.  Carr didn't "waste" talent any more than any other coach in college history.

randyfloyd

October 22nd, 2012 at 12:04 PM ^

because he blew many games that he should have won. Also, I was at "the Horror" and that was the most poorly coached Michigan team I have ever witnessed. As for Hoke, he took a team that I believe would have been 8-5 under RR and possibly 7-6 under Lloyd (possibly worse because he only liked statue QB's) and went 11-2. However, the NC was a great accomplishment.

PurpleStuff

October 22nd, 2012 at 2:00 PM ^

The same guys who coached the defense in 2006 were the ones coaching it in 2007.  They got smoked by App State and Oregon (and Wisconsin and to a slightly lesser extent by Florida) because instead of Harris, Hall, Woodley, Branch, and Burgess we had a completely empty cupboard at DB and LB.

In 2005 we signed one linebacker, 3-star Brandon Logan who never saw the field.  In 2006 the class (after 4-star Cobrani Mixon transferred to Kent State where he was 1st team all-MAC two years in a row) was 3-star FB Obi Ezeh and two 4-star safeties.  In 2007 we signed a JUCO transfer who wasn't any good (Panter), a 2-star recruit who ended up transferring and never playing at Hampton, and 3-star Brandon Herron who was a 3rd stringer behind a true freshman and a hybrid safety as a senior, even with Greg Mattison coaching him.

In 2005 we signed two 3-star corners who were already off the team early in the 2007 season (along with Brandon Harrison at safety).  In 2006 we didn't sign a single defensive back (if you count Mouton and Brown as linebackers which is where they ended up playing their best football).  In 2007 we signed Warren, a 3-star guy who played under emergency conditions as a senior when he was the only healthy upperclassmen at DB on the roster (Rodgers), a 3-star guy who was eventually demoted behind underclassmen Gordon, Avery, and Countess as a senior (Woolfolk), and a guy who struggled as an underclassmen before giving up the game due to chronic injuries (Williams). 

4 guys who earned and kept a starting spot (Harrison, Brown, Mouton, and Warren) from three full recruiting classes to fill 7 positions on the field. 

Just for good measure, the group of guys in the class Rich Rodriguez inherited 2+ months before signing day in 2008 yielded Kenny Demens, a linebacker who didn't qualify academically (Marcus Witherspoon), and Boubacar Cissoko as the only back 7 players.  Raising the tally to 5 legit starters for 7 positions from nearly 4 whole recruiting classes.  That is why the Horror happened and that is why our defense sucked from 2007-2010.

JohnnyV123

October 22nd, 2012 at 5:05 PM ^

You're acting like Hoke didn't exist before his one season at Michigan and that it was just a fluke.

Yes if the world ended today Carr would go down in history as a better coach than Hoke but it's hard to argue against that in their careers Hoke has gotten more out of lesser players. Look at Ball State and San Diego State and not just the records. I was watching those teams and the transformation was amazing.

You say Hoke went 11-2 with Rich Rod players but look what Rich Rod got out of his own players a year ago! Don't even pretend like the improvement in the defense was due only to players maturing another year.

I constantly defend Lloyd Carr against haters because while I hated his game strategy (super conservative offensive calls, prevent defense) and think that he could have gotten so much more out of his players, the players probably wouldn't have come to Michigan without him.

Hoke coaching a similar caliber of player though IMO would simply get more out of them.

Feel free to check the recruiting rates of Hoke's classes at SDSU and Ball State (spoiler alert: they are mostly 2 stars) and how he was able to succeed at having some great years while the rest of the programs in the country doing the same thing have not been successful. Evidence that Hoke gets more out of players than mots other coaches.

JHendo

October 22nd, 2012 at 9:37 AM ^

Up until his senior year, for a couple years you could honestly point to him as the defender at fault for almost every big offensive play by our opponents. For that, I do have trouble fully forgiving/liking the kid. However, with how much he improved his senior year, I don't find it surprising that he's continually gotten better and has become such an effective player for the G men this year. It was always stupid mental mistakes with him. As soon as he got over that, his physical skills were able to shine through.

pdgoblue25

October 22nd, 2012 at 10:04 AM ^

Stevie played very admirably his senior year.

The problem was he was easily the most hyped player every spring, and such a good athlete.  The expectations were high, especially considering the poor safety play we were usually dealing with.  He just couldn't deliver on his potential at the safety position while at UM.

Space Coyote

October 22nd, 2012 at 11:21 AM ^

Stevie Brown was always a very good athlete, and his natural position was always safety. The problem is, the game didn't slow down for him soon enough and the light bulb didn't really click on how to take proper angles to the football. It seemed to happen his senior year, later than most, but that happens to players sometimes. Blaming Lloyd or Rich Rod or Brown himself seems a bit overboard, they all were a part of his maturation, and Brown himself is responsible for his athletic ability. Maybe the coaches could have taught him proper angles earlier, but from experience coaching players, often times the most athletic ones struggle the most when it comes to taking good angles to the football. Outside of terrible angles, Brown was good to really good at other aspects of the game, it just so happens that taking proper angles is a fundamental part of success, especially at safety.

Hopefully the light has turned on for Brown and he can have a long career.