Penn State safety Ji'Ayir Brown's NFL stock + Player Comparison
Penn State Football defensive back Ji'Ayir Brown had a solid performance at the combine, especially during the on-field portion.
With that being said let's take a deeper look at his NFL potential and compare him to a current NFL player.
Now that scouting combine is over and we have new testing data. Which NFL player does Brown closely resemble?
Brown came into the combine measuring 5’11, 203-pounds which makes him “undersized” but thick enough to play in the box. Most scouting reports have him only as a box safety. However, with his length, movement laterally, and athleticism he can be a valuable safety who can make a difference against slot receivers.
Ji’yair’s play as a box safety is special. His closing speed is impressive in the way he can play downhill and attack the football with explosiveness. He’s a player that causes great havoc and he has excellent play as a Blitzer. Indicative of his five sacks, four hits, and six hurries on 51 pass-rushing snaps.
He has great ball skills and has back-to-back seasons of solid ball production with six interceptions in 2021 with three defensive touchdowns and four interceptions in 2022. In addition, has a solid PFF slot coverage grade of 70.9 in 2022.
The PFF grading indicates that his best football could be ahead of him. Improving his overall PFF grade every season at Penn State plus his coverage grade. While he excels at his play in the box, in the NFL he can take his game to another level by adding the slot coverage ability to his game. As previously mentioned he earned a 70+ coverage grade in the slot in a tough conference on one of the top defenses in the country.
However, many will make the case because Brown ran a 4.6 that would disqualify him from being able to cover slot players, especially down the field. The comp I'm giving Brown is a more athletic Jonathan Abram, but who has the potential to be better in coverage. Abrams ran a 4.4 at the scouting combine but struggled in coverage in the NFL essentially relegating himself to nothing more that an undersized linebacker who struggled in zone and covering man to man.
Brown has all of Abram’s high-end traits when it comes to playing in the box, but Brown has more of a positive outlook when translating his coverage ability. Especially if he goes to a team like the Bills, Bengals, Dolphins, or Bucs who allow the safeties to play in the box, attack as a pass rusher, and play a majority of zone coverage concepts.
Brown can be a valuable starting safety who can make a defense multiple and add a disruptive presence to an attacking-style defense. Also, while he plays fast and can make it as a run defender he has to work on being more discipline and playing under control.
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