Meet The Cincinnati Freshmen | #40 Kevin Brown

For all the work that the Bearcats have done in Indianapolis recruiting there are still a couple of schools that have gone relatively overlooked. Lawrence Central was one such high school, until last year that is. Brown was a standout safety for the Bears. He was a key piece of the defense that keyed the Bears run to the state finals in the 2010 season, a run that eventually fell short when LC lost to Fishers.

Brown and Co. couldn't repeat the feat of getting back to Lucas Oil stadium losing to eventual State Champion Carmel in the sectional round of the playoffs. Still Brown had one of his finest seasons yet earning first team All Indianan for the 5-A Division.* Brown is one of the nine early enrollee's for the Bearcats in the class of 2012. A breakdown, vitals and highlights follow after the jump.

* Joining him on that list future teammates Deionte Buckley and Deyshawn Bond

Brown plays the safety position like its 1978, and a mean that in a good way. He is at his best in run support where he can use his speed and instincts to sniff out plays and cut them off in an instant. Brown can do that because he has outstanding speed and is a tremendous open field tackler, a quality that has been lacking for the Bearcats since Aaron Webster graduated.

As a pass defender Brown does have some work to do, but that is par for the course with most young defensive backs. In high school its easy for a guy like Brown to get by on athletic ability alone at the expense of technique. Brown does make some plays back there, his hudl account shows them all. But the leap in offensive complexity from high school to college puts those without great technique at a disadvantage.

I think that Brown will wind up playing free safety with the Bearcats because he is such a gifted defender of the flats. More often than not that job is tasked to the FS in the John Jancek's scheme. If Brown plays this year I would anticipate it being in a special teams role. In the end he, like most true freshmen safeties, would benefit greatly from a year spent watching and learning.

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