Derrick Brown included in NFL Top 100 ranking

[ASFN Admin]

Derrick Brown bounced back from an injury-shortened 2024 campaign by logging 73 tackles and a career-best five sacks last season. Because of this, he enters the 2026 season with higher expectations and a place on the NFL's top 100 players ranking.

The NFL has revealed its top 100 players ranking for the 2026 season ahead of preseason action, and the former Auburn defensive lineman cracks the list for the first time in his career, checking in at No. 90. Bobby Kownack, who compiled the ranking, applauds Brown for bouncing back in a big way last season after playing in just one game during the 2024 season with the Carolina Panthers.

Brown was a man on a mission in the follow-up to his injury-shortened 2024 campaign. His five sacks marked a career high, and he frustrated quarterbacks even when he didn’t get home, tying a personal best with seven batted balls. He vacuumed up rushing attempts down the gut, too, making 32 stops to tie for second in the league among defensive tackles, per PFF. Brown’s bounce-back season was wholly deserving of his long-awaited debut on the NFL Top 100.

Outside of boasting 73 total tackles in 2025, he finished the season in the top 10 of several PFF categories, including No. 4 in solo tackles (46), No. 6 in forced fumbles (1), and No. 1 in batted passes (7). Brown enters his seventh season with the Carolina Panthers in 2026 looking to post back-to-back 70-tackle, five-sack seasons, and possibly top his 2023 tackle total, when he reached 103.


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This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: Derrick Brown included in NFL Top 100 ranking

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