Auburn’s defense is one area where the Tigers feel good entering Saturday’s Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare Stadium, and the man in the middle of that is DL Derrick Brown.

CBS Sports analyst Gary Danielson on a recent segment on WJOX was asked if Brown could impact the game the most?

“He better be,” Danielson said. “He and Marlon Davidson better be mismatches up front. The emergence of the offensive line as they become more physical. If they’re able to play one-on-one up front, and able to pull other linemen out and help on linebackers and safeties, that running game will be devastating. If you have to take two guys, when those do those scoop blocks where two offensive linemen start on one defensive linemen. Let’s say Dickerson and Brown start off the attack on Derrick Brown, and they can’t get off, that means he’s eating two blockers and one of the linebackers will be free.”

Danielson compared it to a wide receiver demanding more coverage, or a quarterback being a threat on run-pass options.

“When you have a dominating player up front like Derrick Brown, he has to be dominated,” Danielson. “If he continues to get blocked one-on-one, it’ll change this great Auburn defense.”

Danielson compared Brown to former Alabama DT Quinnen Williams, who fueled the Crimson Tide defense. So he concluded that if Auburn is able to have success on defense, Brown has to be a star.