Every year some prospects end up hearing more and more criticism in leading up to the draft and suddenly, by nature of social media, everyone is parroting the same thing one person may have said weeks or months ago about said player. One such example in 2020 could be Auburn defensive tackle Derrick Brown, who in February I seem to remember was seen as a top-five level prospect. How rare would that be?

In the last decade, only Quinnen Williams, Marcell Dareus, Ndamukong Suh, and Gerald McCoy have gone in the top five of the NFL draft as defensive tackles.

But as next Thursday’s first round draws closer, Brown has appeared to potentially fall out of the top five and may not even be the first DT off the board as South Carolina’s Javon Kinlaw is being discussed as the superior pass rusher with the higher ceiling. Brown is instead thought of to be the “more polished” of the two and leaning way heavier on being a run-stopper than he is a pass rusher, with the latter being more valuable in today’s NFL. So if a defensive tackle could be projected in the top five but isn’t viewed as the next Aaron Donald, does he become “overrated”?

That’s been the case for many armchair fans on Twitter who’ve taken to social media to voice their concerns for some reason. And Derrick Brown doesn’t seem to be afraid to read them either. In fact, I noticed that he’s liked quite a few tweets that don’t have nice things to say about Derrick Brown.

These tweets were liked by Brown:

Derrick Brown is the most Overrated DT prospect in recent memory.

Brown cannot rush the passer at the NFL level. He does not have the traits.



For reference - Dexter Lawrence last year was a better prospect than Brown. Dexter went 17th overall and some called it a "reach" — TWTSBB264 (@twtsbb264) April 14, 2020

Perennial star - Chase Young



Consistently good starter - Joe Burrow



OK starter - AJ Terrell



Low-level starter/backup - Deandre Swift



Complete bust - Derrick Brown https://t.co/IU9lAe4N22 — . (@SpamDarnold) April 13, 2020

The "1s" are set:



QB1 - Burrow

RB1 - Edwards-Helaire

WR1 - CeeDee Lamb (or Jeudy, idc)

TE1 - Adam Trautman

OT1 - Jedrick Wills

IOL1 - Cesar Ruiz

IDL1 - Javon Kinlaw

EDGE1 - Chase Young

LB1 - Patrick Queen

Avenger1 - Isaiah Simmons

CB1 - Jeff Okudah

S1 - Ashtyn Davis — Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) April 10, 2020

Surprise 1st rounder: Jake Fromm



Player you're low on: Tua Tagovailoa



Player you're high on: Willie Gay Jr



Most Overhyped: Tua Tagovailoa



Most BUST Potential: Justin Herbert



Biggest draft day slide: Derrick Brown — Greg (@haha_its_greg) April 7, 2020

#NFLDraft



Surprise 1st rounder: Jeremy Chinn



Player you're low on : Grant Delpit



Player you're high on : Brandon Aiyuk



Small school gem : Derrek Tuszka



Most Overhyped: Derrick Brown



Most BUST Potential: Laviska Shenault



Biggest draft day slide: Tee Higgins — WILD SPICY (@OhFuckYeahBud82) April 7, 2020

Derrick Brown is gonna be an absolute hell no outta me https://t.co/urCvuihXa2 — Tyler (@MaskedAntler) April 7, 2020

Dude sucks I’ll be surprised if he’s a top 16 pick — ☘️⚡️ (@CelticsGotNext) April 4, 2020

If we select that unathletic BUM @DerrickBrownAU5 , I might resign my fandom of this team.



Dead serious. Guy reeks. — cDub ☄️ (@Thanatos_I_Amv2) April 4, 2020

The only way the giants would piss me off on Draft night is by selecting Derrick Brown with the 4th pick. — NYG Gameday (@gamedaynyg) April 4, 2020

I would not take Derrick Brown in the Top 10 I don't even know if i'd take him top 15. — 49ersMarco (@MarcoFootball16) March 31, 2020

Somebody tell Derrick Brown to block the Giants, and tell Isaiah Simmons to block everyone but the Giants https://t.co/8youZfHOSg — Luke (@lutherj92) March 31, 2020

I totally agree. If there are reports about Derrick Brown not being committed to preparing for the NFL combine or negative things being said about his work ethic, I don't want to take a risk on him at 9. I'd much rather have a stud WR who is committed to his craft than him. — FFSocrates (@FFMediocrates) March 30, 2020

He is where he should be and I will not let you tell me what to do! Child please https://t.co/YobuUK44xN — George Chahrouri (@PFF_George) March 31, 2020

Such a wild feeling to bet the Derrick Brown under, but know he doesn't belong anywhere near the top 20, let alone top 10. — Anthony Amico (@amicsta) March 31, 2020

Yet someone is going to make a huge mistake drafting Derrick Brown in rd1 https://t.co/RwFMdbhaLP — GeobeyChief (@GeobeyChief) March 28, 2020

Yet someone is going to make a huge mistake drafting Derrick Brown in rd1 https://t.co/RwFMdbhaLP — GeobeyChief (@GeobeyChief) March 28, 2020

I’m guessing we are safe from that Derrick Brown nightmare now. https://t.co/r4Fyul7ZvH — NYG Chambers (@NYGChambers) March 26, 2020

Derrick Brown is ass.. he is useless in todays NFL — Pistol Pete (@PeteAnna87) March 23, 2020

When the niners draft Derrick Brown at 13 instead of Lamb or Jeudy pic.twitter.com/AoVkVLiEX2 — ™⚾️ (@Drewtron_) March 18, 2020

Your summation of Derrick Brown is absolutely spot on and something I have been saying after digging in more closely to his film and combine numbers. I think people are expecting him to be something he isn't. People comping him to Suh and I just don't see it. — Kyle (@dangahv) March 14, 2020

But he also liked this tweet, which imagines him with the Raiders:

Derrick Brown.



Best IDL. He’s not an athletic DT who’s going to get 10 sacks BUT he could:



-Demand double teams more than any #Raiders DL bc of his size/power



That opens up the pass rush across the line + allows LBs (Littleton & Kwiatkoski to make plays), which also helps DBs. https://t.co/NAfNyhQuQ9 — Maurice Moton (@MoeMoton) April 4, 2020

And I officially got tired of listing all the Derrick Brown hate tweets that Derrick Brown liked on Twitter. There are many of them, which should give him plenty of motivation. Would you change your opinion of him at all knowing that he’s not afraid to face the criticism or does it make the criticism all the more real?