A great linebacker can elevate an entire defense. The Titans have two.
Rashaan Evans and Jayon Brown are two budding stars at inside linebacker. Two players on the rise whose national recognition hasn’t quite met the mark of their talent or production. Titans fans, stop me if you’ve heard that before.
The truth is, the “nobody believes the Titans” narrative is starting to become played.
Ryan Tannehill killed it in Tennessee en route to a Pro Bowl, and he’s still seen by some as an untrustworthy starter. AJ Brown was able to do what only 21 other players in the history of the NFL could manage and record 1,000 receiving yards in his rookie season, and was still snubbed for Offensive Rookie of The Year. And Kevin Byard, who continues to play like the best safety in the league, continues to be snubbed for All-Pro teams, Pro Bowl teams, and even the NFL Top 100.
“Nobody believes in the Titans” is a tired tagline to read, and frankly, I’m getting tired of writing it too. Thankfully, the more Tennessee pulls off winning seasons and deep playoff runs, the less it seems we need to worry about national recognition– slowly but surely.
Derrick Henry is a bonafide star, Mike Vrabel is becoming a household name at head coach, and the national spotlight seems to be growing a slight bit brighter for the little team from Tennessee.
But there are still exceptions. And one glaring, baffling exception is the lack of recognition for the talents of Rashaan Evans and Jayon Brown, two inside linebackers who are already great and are only getting better.
So forgive me while I dust off the tired narrative one last time and use it to pose an important question– why is nobody talking about what a great linebacker duo Evans and Brown already are? And even more, why is nobody talking about how much potential these two have?
Two players, already among the most talented in the league at their position, with the budding talent to be the best linebacker duo in the NFL in only a few short years.
Rashaan Evans
Rashaan Evans comes from a rich history of Alabama linebackers that have made a name for themselves at the NFL level from Dont’a Hightower to CJ Mosley. But the crazy thing is, Evans might already be in the conversation with those former Alabama greats– and in just his second season.
Because, despite sharing the inside linebacker spot with Jayon Brown and a heavy rotation from the veteran Wesley Woodyard, Evans still puts together some pretty stacked stat sheets, even compared to his Crimson Tide counterparts.
Evans’ 111 combined tackles rank favorably against Hightower’s 2019 season, as well as CJ Mosley’s last full season in 2018. But not only that, Evans’ tackle numbers look good against the rest of the league as well.
Despite missing 14% of the Titans’ defensive snaps in 2019, Evans came away ranked 24th in tackles, while many of the names in front of him are either A) All-Pro players, B) Needed close to every team snap on defense to reach as high as they did or even more likely, C) All of the above. Add to those 111 tackles an impressive nine tackles for loss, and it shows just how much Rashaan Evans is making the most of his time on the field– time that should only be increasing as the second-year player continues to grow and earn more time on the field.
But Evans’ game can’t be defined by his stats alone. The linebacker is so much more than a good tackle number in a two-toned jersey. Rashaan Evans is a weapon on defense that can be used all over the field but excels especially in his ability to get in the backfield and wreck plays before they even have the chance to start.
Evans has had his hand in multiple goal-line stops already in his career, from 2018 against the Jaguars on fourth down to set up the greatest touchdown run in the history of football one play later, to be in the mix in stopping former Chargers’ running back Melvin Gordon multiple times to seal a win against Los Angeles– and that’s only to name a few.
Evans’ ability to read a defense and crash his way into the backfield is rare, and something that many linebackers don’t ever learn to the level that Evans already has. With a combination of quickness (seen here), strength, and instinct, Rashaan Evans is a young game-wrecker. And the perfect complement to his linebacker counterpart, Jayon Brown.
Jayon Brown
While Evans came to the NFL with the status and expectations of a first-round pick from a college football blue-blood, Jayon Brown’s journey to the NFL tracks a bit different.
Not that Brown was plucked from college football obscurity, but more that his alma mater UCLA Bruins weren’t exactly operating on a level close to the Crimson Tide during Evans’ playing days. And with that high level of team success came a huge spotlight for Evans’ talents to shine, while Brown became more of a diamond in the rough prospect after a 4-8 season in his final college year.
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But Brown’s fall to Day Three of the NFL Draft, as it would turn out, was not a reflection of the talent the linebacker had. And despite falling to the fifth round in 2017, Brown actually had a strong individual senior season for himself.
Brown’s 2016 college campaign looked and felt close to what Evans was able to do in 2019 with the Titans. Racking up tackles, getting into the backfield, and being a threat all over the field. But even more than his ability to bring down the ball carrier, Jayon Brown shined in his senior season when it came to creating turnovers and playing coverage.
Two fumble recovers, three interceptions, and six passes defended would all be in the top three for a stacked UCLA defensive roster that included Fabien Moreau, Takkarist McKinley, and Kenny Young– and Jayon Brown shined brighter than all of them. And the skills he showed in college would prove to be more than a fluke.
To this day, even in the NFL, the fifth-round Jayon Brown is still the pass defending, turnover creating, skilled coverage linebacker that he was in college. For a Day Three pick, Brown has proven in just three years’ time that he is more than simply a “good value pick,” he’s a bonafide starter with the skills to hang with anyone.
With tackle numbers on par with Evans’, and on even fewer defensive snaps (75% of all defensive plays compared to Evans’ 86%), Brown has used his strong ball tracking and coverage ability to keep the defense in check. And with those skills working in tandem with Evans’, the two together have the potential to make one of the strongest linebacker pairings in the entire NFL.
Evans and Brown Together
It’s rare to find a player as talented as Jayon Brown so late in the draft. It’s even rarer to find another player at the same position just as talented a year later. But above all, finding two players at the same position who are equally gifted and complement each other’s skillsets so well is something else altogether. That’s magic. That’s Jon Robinson magic.
With Rashaan Evans and Jayon Brown running together in the Titans defense, Tennessee has an inside linebacker corps that can do it all. Both have an undeniable nose for the ball, elite athleticism, and football intelligence, but each has individual strengths that mesh together in perfect harmony.
Evans’ strength, speed, and timing make him the perfect player to get into the backfield and stop the run before it has a chance to develop. He could even play EDGE if the team wanted him to mess with the quarterback.
That raw ability Evans possesses is unique, and its made even more valuable when he’s able to pair it with what Jayon Brown brings to the team. A strong coverage linebacker capable of manning the middle of the field during passing downs.
With that synergy at such valuable positions on the defense, Rashaan Evans and Jayon Brown’s potential together in undeniable. What they’ve already done in their combined five years in the NFL is impressive. And now? There’s nowhere left to go but up.