Big Board ranking: #73
Positional ranking: #5
Overview
Position: S
College: Illinois
Class: Senior
Age: 23
Measurables
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 211 lbs.
Arm length: 31 1/2″
Hand size: 10 1/4″
Athletic testing
40-yard dash: 4.47 sec.
10-yard split: 1.51 sec.
Vertical jump: 40.5”
Broad jump: 132.0”
Bench press: 23 reps
3-cone drill: N/A
Short shuttle: N/A
Strengths
Outstanding speed and twitch. Excellent strength with a muscular build. Great ball skills and production. Has a nose for the football. Attacks the ball in the air with tremendous body control. Terrific instincts in robber coverage. Played man and zone coverage from various alignments. Very good acceleration to jump routes. Wraps at the catch point to breakup passes. Accurate getting his hand in to breakup passes in general. Has experience defending tight ends outside the numbers. Will drive down from the safety spot to deliver a big hit on a pass-catcher. Very aggressive against the run from inside the box. Puts himself in position to make tackles. Pursuit angles are excellent. Works hard to get off or around blocks. Uses his hands to shed. Will spin to evade a block. Hustles to the action away from the ball. Often used as a dime linebacker and didn’t seem out of place. Will hold his own taking on offensive linemen. Fast as a slot blitzer. Experience in punt coverage.
Weaknesses
Needs to have more control as a head-on tackler and will end up on the ground with a miss. Sometimes lowers his eyes and grasps for a stationary tackle. Allows too much separation on slants. Has struggles dealing with change of direction in man coverage and is too aggressive falling for fake route breaks (allowed a huge play to Iowa tight end Sam LaPorta in 2022 matchup).
NFL comparison
Troy Polamalu
Conclusion
Overall, Brown is a strong and instinctive safety that plays fast and has proven to be a playmaker in coverage. The skillset is there to improve in man coverage or play deep, but Brown is best used as a rover that will thrive closer to the action.