Glance at Prizell Brown’s stats from last season, and you’re not going to find anything impressive.
Eleven games played, 10 tackles and half a sack. Very eh.
But when it comes to Brown, numbers don’t do the senior justice. An Austin, Texas native, Brown spent his junior season adjusting to the defensive line. Up until then, the 6-foot-2, 265-pounder was a tight end by trade.
Like anyone making the transition from blocking and catching passes to fighting through blocks and rushing the passer, Brown suffered growing pains. But by the end of the season, he was performing well enough to start five of the final six games and create some buzz heading into his senior year.
“Prizell has been prominent up to this point in time,” Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder said.
“He is larger now than he was. He has gained some weight and he is really handling the weight well. I think that takes some getting used to, and what I do not want to do is impede his quickness, because he has some good quickness up front.
He will get to the right weight that will allow him to be as quick as he is capable of, while at the same time remaining physical.”
A quick, physical defensive lineman. Sounds exactly like what the doctor ordered for the Wildcats this season.
With a year of defense under his belt, K-State defensive coordinator Chris Cosh expects Brown to live up to those expectations.
“Last year was tough on Prizell, but I don’t think the transition is even a thought anymore,” Cosh said. “He sees himself as a defensive end, and feels that he can do it. He’s not wondering if he can like last year. He knows he can do it.”
K-State is already expecting to be better up front on defense with defensive ends Brandon Harold (a former freshman All-American) and Antonio Felder (a senior that had three sacks last year) returning.
The hope is that Brown could be a solid complement to that duo.
It’s what they need him to be.
Photo Credit: David Kennedy