Arthur Brown Is Being Misused in Baltimore, Atlanta Falcons Should Trade for Him
September 29, 2014
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Arthur Brown is essentially benched at the moment, and it doesn't make sense to bench him for Zach Orr and Albert McClellan.
Atlanta needs to go after him so that it can maximize its linebacker corps as a whole in Mike Nolan's scheme and give Paul Worrilow a partner on the interior who can help mask some of his weaknesses.
Brown would be a great fit in Nolan's defense. He's quick off the ball and looked like someone who was going to be the next Luke Kuechly or Patrick Willis when he was in college.
He looks like the ideal weak-inside or weak-side linebacker depending on the alignment. He can play well in both 3-4 and 4-3 alignments.
However, he doesn't seem to fit as well in Baltimore's scheme—at least not as well as Daryl Smith or C.J. Mosley.
Those two are what really make Brown expendable in Baltimore. Why would the Ravens start him when they have Mosley and Smith doing it? As far as the salary cap is concerned, they are paying Smith $13.6 million over the next four years while Mosley is on a first-round pick rookie deal.
Contractually, Baltimore has committed to its starters for at least four years and has no reason to worry about Brown.
Worrilow is playing well. With that said, Atlanta would improve its linebacking corps as a whole if it brought in Brown to play next to him.
Brown would be an improvement over Joplo Bartu, as he's better in coverage, a much better athlete and has a nose for the football. He's also able to shed blocks effectively so that he can attack the run game.
If the Falcons want to see their defense take the next step forward, adding someone who has the talent in coverage to take on tight ends one-on-one like Brown would be helpful. Adding someone to help solidify the run defense would help a lot, too.
It would also allow Atlanta to run more 4-3 alignments because it would have three talented linebackers for the scheme.
What Would It Take to Get Brown in Atlanta?
Baltimore needs multiple things, but the biggest thing it needs is a competent cornerback.
Coming into the year, the Falcons looked like they had a battle for nickel corner between Robert McClain, Javier Arenas and Josh Wilson. While McClain won the job easily and has played the primary snaps at nickel, Wilson has been on the bench and has played just a handful of snaps (subscription required) all year.
Arenas hasn't even been active all season. The Falcons could easily give Arenas the three or four snaps every couple of games that Wilson was seeing. They could easily fill the roster spot that Wilson takes up with fifth-round draft pick Ricardo Allen, who is currently on the practice squad.
So that makes Wilson, of all guys on the roster, the most valuable.
By sending over a mid-to-late-round draft pick and Wilson, the Falcons could enhance their linebacker corps to the point where they wouldn't need to re-sign Sean Weatherspoon after the season. Weatherspoon's role in the defense would be filled by Brown, whose second-round salary would be much cheaper than the deal Weatherspoon would seek.
They could also improve their depth by taking a current starter in Bartu and moving him back into a backup role. This is a move that makes too much sense for Atlanta and would also make sense for the Ravens.
This should be the first step in a Falcons reversion to the 4-3. So, let's just see it happen already.
All stats used are from Pro Football Focus (subscription required), ESPN.com, cfbstats or NFL.com. All combine and pro day info is courtesy of NFLDraftScout.com. All contract information is courtesy of Spotrac and Rotoworld.
Scott Carasik is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He covers the Atlanta Falcons, college football, the NFL and the NFL draft. He also runs DraftFalcons.com.