JACKSONVILLE, Fla. –
Jacksonville Jaguars LB and fifth-round draft selection Blair Brown from Ohio University became the fourth member of the team’s 2017 draft class to sign his rookie contract, the club announced Tuesday.
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“My heart is racing a little bit,” said Brown. “This was definitely a big moment for me, just to be able to sit down and look at the NFL contract and see my name on it. It was a dream come true. I’ve been dreaming of this moment since I was a kid. I started playing when I was five [years old]. My mom used to wake me up because I used to fall asleep in my helmet as a five-year old. She said, ‘You can’t do that.’ I have been dreaming about it since I was five years old.”
The Jaguars selected Brown with the 148th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. Brown, 6-0, 238, appeared in 42 games during his four-year career in Athens, Ohio, totaling 266 tackles (151 solo), 25.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. As a redshirt senior in 2016, Brown appeared in 14 games and led the team with 128 tackles (71 solo) and 15.0 tackles for loss and was named a first-team All-Mid-American Conference selection. According to Pro Football Focus, Brown led the nation in tackling efficiency, registering just three missed tackles during the 2016 season. A native of Moreno Valley, Calif., Brown served as a three-year team captain at Rancho Verde High School and was the school’s defensive MVP after a 14-0 senior campaign.
“I am expecting to learn everything I can from the older guys, and especially Paul [Posluszny], because he has been in the system a long time and he really knows all the positons,” said Brown about learning the Jaguars playbook. “Me and a lot of the younger guys have been in the meeting room before meetings trying to pick his brain.”
Brown joins fourth-round selection WR Dede Westbrook and seventh-round selections CB Jalen Myrick and FB Marquez Williams as 2017 draftees to sign their rookie contracts.