Tag: Ji’Ayir Brown

Penn State alumni could have a big impact on this year’s Super Bowl

Which Nittany Lions will have an impact on the Super Bowl this year?

As Super Bowl LVIII draws closer, football fans across the world are contemplating who they should be rooting for. Those who do not care for either team may be looking at individual players or perhaps the best story to decide their pick. It may be easiest for college football fans to root for the team with players from your favorite school, if they happen to have any.

For Penn State fans, however, that could cause a split. The Nittany Lions have three players representing them in the big game. Representing the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs is starting tackle [autotag]Donovan Smith[/autotag], and for the San Francisco 49ers safety [autotag]Ji’Ayir Brown[/autotag] and defensive lineman [autotag]Kevin Givens[/autotag] are big pieces on defense. Brown in particular has stepped up as a starter for the 49ers after an injury to All-Pro safety Talanoa Hufanga,

All three of Penn State’s representatives have a chance of making a big impact on the outcome of the game, but none more than Donovan Smith. Smith had been a rock at left tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for nearly a decade before signing with the Chiefs in 2023. He is no longer the above-average starter he once was, so how well he can hold up against the 49ers pass rush will be a huge part of the game.

Brown and Givens will have their own challenges dealing with the Kansas City offense. Brown has always been more of a tough, gritty box safety as opposed to a rangy cover player. The Chiefs could look to attack him through the air with their assortment of tight ends and running backs. Givens meanwhile will try and provide quality snaps against a very strong interior offensive line. Neither of them has the responsibility that Smith does, but they could still play deciding roles in the biggest game of their lives.

Either way, the number of Super Bowl rings earned by the Nittany Lions will get even higher, and that’s something to be proud of.

Change in secondary could hinder 49ers’ Super Bowl chances

The #49ers made a change to their lineup in the divisional round. Now they need to change it back.

The 49ers made an interesting decision in their divisional playoff matchup against the Green Bay Packers, and moving forward with that decision could wind up costing them a Super Bowl.

Despite rookie safety Ji’Ayir Brown getting healthy enough to suit up for the postseason, it was veteran Logan Ryan lining up alongside Tashaun Gipson for San Francisco’s playoff opener.

Brown injured his knee in Week 16 against the Ravens and missed Weeks 17 and 18, but was back in practice to ramp up to the postseason. Still, he was one of two 49ers to not see the field against Green Bay in a game where a dynamic playmaker would have been helpful in the back end of the secondary.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan’s answer on why Ryan was in over Brown didn’t instill a ton of confidence that Brown would be an option for San Francisco in the postseason.

“We knew that we kind of decided that when Ji’Ayir had missed about four weeks,” Shanahan said in his postgame press conference. “I think it was two games, but he had been out four weeks. He’s been awesome in practice. I love Ji’Ayir. It has nothing to do with him. Just our experience of playoff games being around us. I think it’s a lot when you got a rookie who hasn’t played in a month, who is a very passionate, aggressive player. I just don’t want to put all that on him, to have him go out in the playoff game when he hasn’t been out there for four weeks. Especially when you have a veteran behind him who could just calm down a little bit. If things would’ve gone differently, we would’ve put Ji’Ayir in right away. But we don’t want to do that really to Ji’Ayir.”

Brown hadn’t played in four weeks. Now he hasn’t played in five, the 49ers are on a bigger stage, and Brown still doesn’t have postseason experience. It appears Ryan will be the team’s starting safety next to Gipson moving forward.

That could wind up hurting the 49ers.

Ryan, who will turn 33 next month, signed with San Francisco in early December after not being with a team at all in the 2023 season. Now he’s starting the biggest games of the year.

Against Green Bay he missed two tackles and allowed a touchdown on one of the two passes thrown his way. That TD came on a natural pick designed by Green Bay, but Ryan was a non-factor for the most part in a game where it might have been helpful to have Brown – an athletic, versatile safety with a penchant for being around the football and generating turnovers.

San Francisco liked Brown enough to trade up for him and make him the first safety off the bench when Talanoa Hufanga went down in Week 11 with a torn ACL. Now they need to trust him, because rolling with Ryan might wind up costing them the way it nearly cost them in their playoff opener.

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Former Nittany Lions Joey Porter Jr. and Ji’Ayir Brown named to PFWA 2023 All-Rookie Team

Pro football writers honor former Penn State defensive back duo on 2023 All-Rookie team.

It did not take long for two key members from the 2022 Penn State defense to leave their respective marks on the NFL. [autotag]Joey Porter Jr.[/autotag] and [autotag]Ji’Ayir Brown[/autotag], former defensive backfield teammates for the Nittany Lions, each landed on the 2023 All-Rookie Team from the Pro Football Writers of America on Tuesday.

Although Porter Jr. was the no. 32 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, he was actually the first pick in the second round of the draft. The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Porter Jr. and he quickly immersed himself in a key role in the defense/ The three-time All-Big Ten player played four seasons at Penn State and left a year early to follow in his father’s footsteps at the next level. In his first NFL season, Porter had 43 tackles with 10 pass deflections and 1 interception.

Brown was a third-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in the 2023 NFL draft. Brown was a JUCO transfer addition for Penn State in 2020 from Lackawanna College, and he wasted little time becoming one of the top playmaking safeties in the Big Ten. In his first year as a starter in 2021, playing alongside Jaquan Brisker, Brown had six interceptions and went on to be named the defensive MVP of the 2023 Rose Bowl in his final game in a Penn State uniform. Brown had 35 tackles with 4 pass deflections and 2 interceptions in his rookie season for the 49ers.

Brown has a chance to play in the Super Bowl a year after helping Penn State win the Rose Bowl. Brown and the 49ers host the Detroit Lions in this weekend’s NFC Championship Game.

Former Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud (Houston Texans) was named the PFWA Rookie of the Year and the Offensive Rookie of the Year. Former Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. (Houston Texans) was named the Defensive Rookie of the Year. The Texans also drafted former Penn State offensive lineman [autotag]Juice Scruggs[/autotag], who has been a key part of the offensive line for the Texans this season as well.

You can see the full PFWA 2023 All-Rookie Team here.

Follow Kevin McGuire on Threads, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

49ers 2023 draft class one of NFL’s least productive

The #49ers 2023 draft class was one of the NFL’s least productive. Here’s why that matters, and why it doesn’t:

The 49ers were never going to need a ton of production out of their 2023 draft class if everything went well. They entered the draft with a loaded roster and didn’t have a pick until late in the third round. Couple their roster needs with their lack of top-end draft capital and it’s not a surprise San Francisco’s most recent draft class was one of the NFL’s least productive this season.

NFL analytics guru Aaron Schatz laid out the production of all 32 draft classes in a piece for ESPN. The 49ers ranked 30th, ahead of only the Broncos and Cowboys.

Part of the problem with the productivity of this year’s class wasn’t asked to do much. Of their nine picks, only two contributed as starters – kicker Jake Moody and safety Ji’Ayir Brown who took over the starting role in Week 11 after Talanoa Hufanga tore his ACL.

Seventh-round wide receiver Ronnie Bell had at least a special teams role all year while sprinkling in a couple of touchdown catches. Fifth-round picks like cornerback Darrell Luter Jr. and defensive end Robert Beal Jr. both spent most of the season on injured lists before joining primarily as special teams contributors.

San Francisco will now lean heavily on Brown and Moody in the postseason where their production will ultimately matter far more than anything they did in the playoffs.

As long as the 49ers are able to restock their talent cupboard with a couple players from this year’s draft while also getting key contributions from the Brown-Moody duo in this year’s playoffs, the lack of overall productivity from the rookies in 2023 won’t matter much.

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Every Penn State player in the NFL playoffs in 2024

Here is every former Penn State football player on an NFL playoff team’s roster in 2024.

Another NFL postseason is set to get underway, and there is a good chance at least one team playing in the Super Bowl will have a Penn State player on the roster. All but two teams in this year’s NFL playoffs have at least one Penn State player on the roster this year. The top seeds in each conference have multiple Penn State players on the roster, seemingly making it more likely Penn State will see a former player earn a Super Bowl ring.

In all, a total of 64 Super Bowl rings have been won by a former Penn State player. Last year’s Super Bowl had just one former Penn State player on the field, but Miles Sanders and the Philadelphia Eagles came up short of winning the big game. There is an excellent chance there will be more than one former Nittany Lion competing in the Super Bowl this postseason.

The Los Angeles Rams and Cleveland Browns are the only two teams in the NFL postseason without a Penn State player on the roster. Here is a look at every Penn State player on an NFL playoff team’s roster this postseason.

Penn State in the NFL: Best photos from Week 11

These former Penn State stars had some big moments around the NFL in Week 11. Here are some of the best photos form the week.

Penn State fans who may have been watching some NFL football this past weekend likely had some reasons to smile. A handful of former Nittany Lions had some big moments around the league in Week 11 of the NFL’s regular season.

[autotag]Odafe Oweh[/autotag] got an early jump on the weekend by recording a sack of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow in the Thursday night win by the Baltimore Ravens. [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag] had a big game for the New York Giants as they picked up a win against the Washington Commanders. Barkley rushed for 83 yards on 14 carries and picked up 57 yards on 4 receptions with two touchdown catches in the win.

And on the west coast, rookie safety [autotag]Ji’Ayir Brown[/autotag] came up with a big interception to help the San Francisco 49ers pick up a win against Chris Godwin and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Here is a look at some of the best photos from around the NFL of your favorite former Penn State stars in Week 11.

8 takeaways from 49ers’ 27-14 win over Buccaneers

8 takeaways from the #49ers’ win over the Bucs.

The 49ers have a huge three-game stretch coming up with two games against the Seahawks and another against the Eagles. For those games to come with maximum consequence though they needed to take care of business at home against a struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers squad.

They did just that with a 27-14 win where their stars shined once again, and got some help from an unexpected source on defense.

Here are our eight takeaways from the 49ers’ seventh win of the year:

Watch: Rookie Ji’Ayir Brown secures first career interception vs. Bucs

Ji’Ayir Brown has arrived.

After a quiet start to his rookie campaign,  Ji’Ayir Brown’s coming out party came in Week 11 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

With Talanoa Hufanga leaving the game due to injury, Steve Wilks and the 49ers defense needed to lean on Brown in the secondary against Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and the Bucs.

Despite giving up a gain to Rakim Jarrett, Brown shined when the Bucs were approaching the end zone. After forcing the Bucs off the field with a clutch pass deflection against Evans on fourth down, Brown didn’t wast much time securing the first interception of his NFL career.

Again with the Bucs near the end zone, the former Penn State Nittany Lion came away with an interception on a deflected pass from Baker Mayfield. Behind Brown’s interception, the 49ers ended the Bucs’ hopes of a late comeback on Sunday in Week 11.

Via @49ers on Twitter:

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

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Watch: Rookie Ji’Ayir Brown comes up with clutch pass deflection on fourth down vs. Bucs’ Mike Evans

With injuries in the secondary, the 49ers rookie safety came through clutch against the Buccaneers.

With Talanoa Hufanga ruled out due to injury, rookie safety Ji’Ayir Brown was trusted into the spotlight against Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offense.

With eyes on the rookie, the Penn State product answered the bell when the Bucs were threatening in the red zone. After giving up a long catch to Rakim Jarrett, Brown bounced back when the Bucs were looking to put it in the end zone on fourth down.

With pressure in his face, Baker Mayfield floated a pass toward Evans. Yet, the future Hall of Fame receiver was left empty handed when Brown go in the way for a clutch pass deflection. With the deflection, the 49ers defense gave the ball back to Brock Purdy and the offense with the lead at 27-14.

Via @49ers on Twitter:

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

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Worst of the Week for Week 10: Patriots and Giants bottom out, more bad officiating, Frank Reich

Frank Reich, the Patriots and Giants find the bottom, more horrid officiating, and one weird fumble return. It’s time for the NFL’s Worst of the Week!

Football is a wonderful, thrilling, inspiring game that can lift us to new heights in our lives.

But football is also a weird, inexplicable, at times downright stupid game that may force you to perform Keith Moon-level furniture destruction in your own living room.

So, as much as we at Touchdown Wire endeavor to write about what makes the game great, there are also times when it’s important to point out the dumb plays, boneheaded decisions, and officiating errors that make football all too human.

Folks, it’s time for the Worst of the Week for Week 10 of the 2023 NFL season.