Oklahoma's Tre Brown, long a tormentor of Sam Ehlinger, ready to bring his talents to the NFL

After three solid years as an OU starter, a remarkable Senior Bowl and a strong Pro Day, Lincoln Riley thinks the Sooner cornerback's best days are still ahead of him

When Senior Bowl practice was over, Oklahoma cornerback Tre Brown headed to the bus to go back to the players’ hotel.

When he boarded, there was just one other player already sitting down.

Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger.

Ehlinger looked up, smiled and shook his head.

“Ah, bro,” Ehlinger told Brown, “you got me again.”

“Nah, don’t throw that out there,” Brown said back. “We’re just competing.”

Tre Brown Pro Day :: Ty Russell / OU Athletics

Brown had just intercepted Ehlinger in practice, and the video sort of went viral. Interceptions in one-on-one drills are said to be rare at the Senior Bowl, and Brown had several during the week of practice, showing out for NFL coaches who ran the drills and organized the teams.

Breaking | @T_Brown25 intercepts Sam Ehlinger. #SeniorBowl

pic.twitter.com/Ct5FrAckDS

— Tattoo Baker 🎥✨ (@QB1TATT00) January 26, 2021

It’s a week-long job interview, and Brown crushed it — and added to his long, decorated list of tormenting Ehlinger.

• In the 2018 Big 12 Championship Game, Brown sacked Ehlinger on a blindside cornerback blitz for a late safety that helped clinch the Sooners’ victory.
• And in the 2020 Red River Rivalry, he ended the game with an end zone interception in the fourth overtime.

The 5-foot-10 Brown said he didn’t go into Senior Bowl practices with the intent of stamping out Ehlinger yet again. Brown likes to think he persecutes all quarterbacks equally.

Tre Brown / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

“If it was anybody else I’d still do the same thing,” Brown said. “He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. You know what I’m saying?

“I’m just kidding.”

Brown, a senior at OU in 2020, opted out of the Cotton Bowl to prepare and train for his week in Mobile. It was a solid business decision. As a three-year starter, NFL scouts have plenty of video on Brown. And since the practices and game are run by NFL scouts, it was a real opportunity to show his future employers what he’s capable of in person.

The Senior Bowl isn’t some random all-star game. It’s a job fair — and the game itself is less important than the practices.

Tre Brown / Photo: Reese's Senior Bowl

Which is good, because Brown sustained a mild injury in practice and was unable to play in the game. Still, Brown remained in Mobile for the rest of the week to maintain face time with the coaches and continue to build relationships with his Senior Bowl teammates.

“It definitely bothered me (not being able to play in the game),” he said. “Especially having an injury, being out there with those guys, building chemistry with a lot of people and just going out there having fun. I never feel like I’ve done enough when I’m on the field. I always feel like there’s more than I can do, and that’s the reason I stayed there. I wanted to be there for those guys. I could’ve easily left like a lot of other people wanted to do … but I was like, ‘Nah, that’s not me.’ ”

Brown’s next job interview came Friday when OU staged its annual Pro Day in Norman. Seven Sooners worked out for 59 scouts representing 31 NFL teams, and Brown had a very good day.

Pat Fields, Tre Brown and Jeremiah Criddell / OU Athletics

“I think he’s got a tremendous chance,” OU head coach Lincoln Riley said. “He did a great job at the Senior Bowl. Played very well for us here, especially over the second of our season.”

His numbers were good, but not quite what he wanted: 4.40 seconds in the 40, 38 inches in the vertical jump, 123 inches in the broad jump, 4.27 in the short shuttle, 7.08 in the 3-cone drill.

Brown said he thought he ran faster than the official 4.40.

“I’ve ran faster before,” he said. “We’ve all — the people who know, know. But yeah, I definitely had goals — low 4.3, try to get 4.2 — but that’s a technique thing, not always where you’re just going out there running. It’s different. You’ve got to have technique for things like those. But yeah, I definitely thought I was going to run faster. But I still felt like I ran pretty fast.”

OU fans saw Brown’s speed at its peak when he chased down Baylor’s Chris Platt in the 2019 Big 12 Championship Game to save a touchdown and force overtime, where the Sooners prevailed.

Much has been made of this play and players involved. Chris Platt @BUFootball ran track in college and was a national caliber HS 400m champion. He’s fast! Was chased down by Tre Brown @OU_Football CB that ran a 10.51/100m (wind) as Soph in HS. He’s fast!!
pic.twitter.com/eNzKxIQ0Ce

— Mark Branstad (@TRCKFTBLGUY) December 9, 2019

On that play, according to NextGenStats, Platt reached a top speed of 21.5 miles per hour, which would have ranked in the top five of NFL receivers in 2019. But Brown reached a top speed of 23.3, which was faster than Tyreek Hill’s mark of 23.24 — fastest of any ball carrier in the NFL since NextGen began tracking times in 2016.

Brown’s football speed is elite, regardless of what his 40 time was at Pro Day. And when scouts put him through cornerback drills on Friday, he was fluid and, of course, explosive.

To Riley, one of Brown’s biggest assets was his willingness to learn and grow over the last four years.

“He came here very, very raw,” Riley said. “A guy that really didn’t trust and buy into technique or the intense preparation you have to have to be great; relied on his outstanding physical skills that he does have. So he was able to play, but had a lot of room to grow. He’s gotten a lot better in those areas, there’s no question. He’s become a more committed player. He’s really zeroed in on technique a lot more throughout his career. I give coach Manning a lot of credit at the back end for really pushing him and holding him accountable and developing him.”

Everything Brown did in Norman last week was essentially icing on the cake after his outstanding Senior Bowl. Receivers on the other team even named him most outstanding cornerback for the week.

“A lot of guys talked about how well I went out there and played,” Brown said. “It was pretty much everybody told me I went out there and did what I had to do and that really helped. Those guys helping me build that confidence that, ‘Yo, I left everything out there on the field.’ So yeah, I heard a lot of good reports.

Tre Brown Pro Day :: Ty Russell / OU Athletics

“I feel like it really helped. I’m a very underrated guy. I’m not the type to cry over not getting recognition or anything. I like to show that on the field and every chance I get, I’m gonna go hard and people are going to notice me from there, so when I went to the Senior Bowl, I told myself day in and day out that I was going to be the best player there. That worked out for me. And out here at the Pro Day, I said I was going to have a complete day, and that worked out.”

To Riley, Brown’s best days are still ahead of him.

“The fun thing for Tre is he still has a long ways to go, still a lot of room to grow with his preparation, with his technique,” Riley said. “So you’re not talking about a guy, in my opinion, that’s tapped out. You combine that with a guy that’s explosively fast, he’s strong, he’s got closing speed, he’s got makeup speed and is a good special teams player. I think he is very interesting for a lot of teams and I think he is overcoming his lack of height and length that he has.”