5 things to know about Rams 5th-round pick Earnest Brown IV
With Michael Brockers being traded and Morgan Fox leaving in free agency, the Los Angeles Rams were in search of a replacement at defensive end. They found one in Earnest Brown IV, who they drafted in the fifth round at No. 174 overall.
The Northwestern product will try to carve out a role along the Rams’ defensive line as a rookie, and there’s an opening for him at defensive end as a situational pass rusher like Fox was.
Get to know the young defender with five facts about him below.
Received offers from top FBS programs
Brown attended Northwestern and originally committed to the school when he was a junior, but that didn’t prevent some of the top schools in the country from recruiting him. According to 247Sports, he received offers from Ohio State, Oklahoma, Michigan, Texas and Ole Miss, among others. That’s probably because he was the No. 6-ranked strongside defensive end in the country, the 36th-best prospect in Texas and was already 6-5, 240 pounds in high school. He was a highly touted prospect out of high school.
Only started nine games in college
Believe it or not, but despite being such a promising recruit, Brown only started nine games in his career at Northwestern. All of those starts came as a senior in 2020 when he was an All-Big Ten honorable mention. Brown played 31 games before his senior year, but he didn’t start any of them. He missed six games in 2019 due to a pectoral injury, but he says he came back motivated and it showed on the field as he put together arguably his best season as a senior.
Ranked second on the team in TFL in 2020
Brown had 7.5 tackles for a loss as a sophomore in 2018, as well as a career-best four sacks. That was in 14 games with no starts, seemingly realizing the potential he showed as a recruit when Northwestern signed him. But he got even better in 2020 by finishing the year with 8.5 tackles for a loss in only nine games, to go along with four passes defensed, one sack and a career-high 32 tackles.
Talked to Rams DL coach Eric Henderson weekly before the draft
Leading up to the draft, Brown spoke to a number of teams. But he was in constant contact with Rams defensive line coach Eric Henderson in the weeks leading up to the draft, so he had a feeling they might take him. "I definitely did. I talked to ‘Coach Henny’ a lot,” he said. “We kept in contact almost every week leading past, I want to say February, but we just kept in good contact, probably the best relationship at of everybody and I appreciate him for believing in me. I appreciate the Rams for believing me and I will put forth the work every single day when I get to the Rams’ facility." Brown and Henderson will get to know each other even better now that the Rams drafted the Northwestern product to play along Henderson's defensive line.
He was born in California
Brown grew up in Denton, Texas, but he was technically born in California. He shared that little tidbit with reporters after the draft, saying he’s originally from Walnut Creek, Calif., which is just east of San Francisco. He and his family moved to Texas when he was about six months, so he didn’t spend much time in California and was never old enough to remember it. He’s never been to Los Angeles but will now call it home. “I was a baby. I was in San Francisco, actually Walnut Creek,” he said. “I was born there, but then six months – I don’t remember as a little kid, but six months passed and then I moved to Texas. So, this will be my first time actually since I was a little baby that I go back to the West Coast.”
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