Over the last 3 to 4 years the Cincinnati Bearcats have made it a point to recruit the state of Florida hard. Really the process began near the end of Brian Kelly’s tenure at UC but the practice was emphasized even more under the Butch Jones regime, and especially in the Miami region. Since 2011 the Bearcats have reeled in commitments from five Miami-area natives; Dwight Jackson, Carroll Phillips, Errol Clarke, Corey Griffin, Joey Jones. And it seems like Tommy Tuberville will continue that trend as he has garnered a verbal commitment from defensive back Aaron Brown out of Miami Northwestern High School. It looks like there isn’t much of anything on him from the major recruiting sites as he looks like a very under-the-radar prospect. But upon visiting Clifton this past weekend it looks like he did enough to get the coaches’ attention and earn a scholarship offer, after which he decided to roll the dice with the Bearcats.
| Mark Wilson | |
|---|---|
| Position | DE |
| Height - Weight | 6'4", 215 lbs |
| Hometown | Hampton, VA |
| High School | Phoebus |
| 247 Sports | ** - 79 |
| Rivals | ** - 5.4 |
| ESPN | ** - 69 |
| Scout | - |
Overview
Brown is a pure corner at the high school level. And at 6’0″ 180 lbs he appears physically capable of handling man to man as well as bump and run coverage with typically taller and bigger wide receivers. He displays a headiness when the ball is in the air that typically takes time to develop. It looks like Brown already possesses that necessary skill. Plus he has good ball skills to go up and knock away a pass if he is unable to snare it for himself. If I could boil down his play to a couple of words it would be these; fundamentally sound. He sticks to receivers like glue, displays fluid hip movement, tackles through a player as coaches teach, and is smart when going after a pass. Essentially he does many of the basics right most of the time and the spectacular plays he makes are just icing on the cake. Good looking prospect.
Outlook
Most definitely a redshirt. Defensive back is one of the most mentally taxing positions on the football team, right up there with quarterback. Taking a redshirt is not uncommon for first-year players in the secondary. At UC in particular there are just so many more experienced DB’s ahead of him on the roster that he will be forced to sit out his freshman year. He definitely passes the eye test and it looks like he’ll stay right where he is (cornerback) when he comes to Cincinnati.