CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Carolina Panthers nabbed Auburn defensive tackle Derrick Brown with the seventh overall selection in Thursday night’s NFL Draft.

Brown addresses an immediate need for the Panthers interior defensive line, as he will be looked upon to contribute to a group that finished near the bottom of the league in 2019.

Brown was the 2019 SEC Defensive Player of the Year, was a first-team All American, and he was one of the players that Panthers General Manager Marty Hurney got to know prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The coronavirus canceled many college football “pro day” workouts, but Auburn held theirs before the situation worsened.

“[Head coach] Matt [Rhule] and I had the chance to meet with him at the Senior Bowl, [and] the combine,” Hurney told reporters Thursday night.  “I met with him at the [Auburn] Pro Day, so we really had a lot of exposure to him. Every time you met with him, you just got a stronger and stronger feeling about him.”

Brown recorded 55 tackles last season, with 12.5 of those stops recorded for lost yardage, tying him for the team lead.  He notched four sacks, four pass break-ups, and caused two fumbles for the Tigers in 2019.

Hurney trumpeted Brown’s character as well.  Nicknamed “Baby Barack,” Brown has aspirations of a political career after football, specifically being a lobbyist. Hurney points out that Brown’s work ethic and desire were attractive attributes for the Panthers moving forward.

“You could just tell that he was one of the leaders of that team,” Hurney remarked when referring to those in attendance during Auburn’s Pro Day.  The GM felt he learned a lot about Brown from what he was hearing from those around him.

“That’s what Pro days are for,” Hurney continued. “You get exposure to seeing him with his teammates, to see how he interacts with his teammates, to talk to coaches.  It was all positive.”