Montana OG Liam Brown: Durable Starter Projects as Day-3 Pick

Liam Brown projects as a Day-3/late-round selection in the 2026 NFL Draft after a four-year stretch anchoring Montana’s interior line, where he started 43 of 52 career games and logged 1,527 pass-blocking snaps. Brown allowed 53 pressures and nine sacks for a 3.4% pressure rate while helping the Grizzlies reach the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs and earning Second-Team All-Big Sky honors in 2025.

At 6-5 and listed at 316 pounds, Brown wore No. 79 for Montana and enters the draft as a redshirt senior for the 2026 class. Measurables on his profile show 40-yard ranges of 5.15 low, 5.25 typical, and 5.34 high, and his Pro Day entry lists a date of 04/03/26. Those listed times and the Pro Day date will be focal points for NFL personnel evaluating whether his tape-grade strengths translate into the athletic traits required on the next level.

Brown’s tape displays repeatable physical traits: a "good size and a strong frame," sturdy initial contact, and a powerful upper body that helps him absorb impact and maintain blocks. Evaluators note that "when he latches, he controls defenders with strong hand strength and power" and that he "can create movement as a solo blocker and can displace on his combo blocks." Those traits, combined with career durability across 52 games, contribute to his profile as an inside blocker capable of creating push in duo and power-based schemes.

Scouts also catalog clear developmental areas. Brown is described as a "slower lateral mover with limited foot speed" who plays with "some stiffness" and an "inconsistent base" that limits his ability to bend and gain leverage. Reports state that his lateral quickness "does not allow him to reach defenders when working east-west," that stunts "cause him trouble due to his change of direction," and that "his scanning and processing as a protector will require refinement." In pass protection the evaluation explicitly flags "less than adequate foot speed and below-average bend."

Project fit projects Brown to guard in inside zone, duo, and power systems, and evaluators peg him as an NFL camp or second-tier league starter prospect if he develops. A roster impact angle carries historical weight for Montana: Brown would be the first Montana offensive lineman selected in the NFL Draft since Dylan McFarland in 2004 if he is chosen, and his selection alongside receiver Michael Wortham would mark the program’s first back-to-back drafted years since 2011-12.

Brown frames his own trajectory around work ethic and corrective growth, saying, "Because of my working mindset I can always find ways to improve my game, turning my previous weaknesses into strengths." With tape showing hand strength and displacement ability but testing ranges that suggest limited lateral quickness, Brown’s draft slot will hinge on how he performs in front of NFL evaluators on or after the listed Pro Day date and whether he can show cleaner footwork and faster processing against stunts and second-level defenders.