Cam Brown is heading to Los Angeles.
Brown is signing with the Los Angeles Chargers as an undrafted free agent, the team announced Saturday night.
While Brown went undrafted after an injury-plagued career at Ohio State, the former Buckeye cornerback will now have the opportunity to battle for a roster spot in Los Angeles, where he joins a roster that also includes former Ohio State standouts Joey Bosa and Corey Linsley.
He’s one of three defensive backs from last year’s Ohio State secondary to sign with an NFL team as a free agent after going undrafted, joining Ronnie Hickman and Tanner McCalister, who both signed with the Browns.
In eight games for Ohio State last season, all of which he started, Brown recorded 14 total tackles and five pass deflections. In his OSU career, he had 36 tackles, 14 pass deflections and one interception in 36 games played (13 starts).
The 6-foot, 192-pound St. Louis native learned from plenty of coaches with NFL experience, as his last three position coaches at Ohio State were all previously NFL secondary coaches – Tim Walton, Kerry Coombs and Jeff Hafley. Brown said at the NFL Combine he believes that gives him a leg up in his preparation over cornerbacks from other schools.
“They gave me the mindset of an NFL player,” Brown said. “Most college coaches try to just teach certain things, but they showed me the more detailed part of the game that’s not only athletic ability. Because when you get to the NFL, everybody's talented, everybody's athletic. It's all about what are you going to do with it.”
At Ohio State's pro day on March 22, Brown ran a 4.53-second 40-yard dash, recorded a 35.5-inch vertical and turned in a 7.12-second three-cone drill. And even though he surely would have liked to have been drafted earlier, he’ll enter the NFL with confidence that he can become an impact player.
“I'm a big, physical corner that’s fast, that can cover anybody, that's a leader, who will come in and be a starter,” Brown said after Ohio State’s pro day. “If you don’t go in with that mindset, the NFL will eat you alive.”
