Tag: Ji’Ayir Brown

NFL draft grades: 49ers salvage passing grade with minimal capital

The 49ers didn’t have a ton of draft capital, but still pulled out a passing grade in the TD Wire draft grades.

It was never going to be easy for the 49ers to finagle a strong post-draft grade coming out of the 2023 draft. They held 11 picks, but their first selection wasn’t scheduled until No. 99 at the end of the third round. One trade moved them up to No. 87 and left them with nine total picks. Despite their limited draft capital, San Francisco salvaged a B- grade from Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar.

There were some opportunities for the 49ers to track down some higher-end talent that slid down the draft, but their lack of picks between the end of the third round and the middle of the fifth round led them to make a couple of reaches they may have otherwise not needed to make. Via Farrar:

The pick I like the most in this group is Penn State’s Ji’Ayir Brown, who projects well as that kind of versatile safety the 49ers have loved through recent years. Think Jimmie Ward, and you won’t be far off. Beyond that, there are some reaches here, and perhaps not as many immediate contributors as you’d like, though I do like Georgia’s Robert Beal Jr. as a speed end. General manager John Lynch spoke after the pick of Beal’s “GTFO” ability, which is apparently a metric the 49ers’ staff uses to discern a defensive lineman’s ability to get off the snap as quickly as possible.

The 49ers very much drafted like a team looking to fill out some depth on its roster. They didn’t aim for high-end athletes with big upside that tend to garner higher grades in the immediate aftermath of the draft. Instead, they found a kicker, a pair of players who could compete for the backup tight end job, a linebacker who should be in the mix for the starting Sam LB spot and some depth pieces to battle for playing time along the defensive line, secondary and receiving corps.

It wasn’t a super inspiring draft, but it could bear fruit if it improves the depth on an already good roster.

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2023 NFL draft: Players selected with picks Vikings traded away

The Minnesota Vikings traded away nine total selections in the 2023 NFL Draft that were made by other teams.

The Minnesota Vikings selected six players in the 2023 NFL draft, but they traded away multiple picks both leading up to and during the annual selection meeting.

In totality, the Vikings made nine trades involving picks that were made by other teams.

Here are all nine players selected with picks that the Vikings once held.

 

Penn State football 2023 NFL draft player tracker

Penn State sends three players through the second round of the 2023 NFL draft, including back-to-back picks.

Penn State is looking to send a good handful of players off to the NFL in the 2023 NFL draft. A year after a busy 2022 NFL draft, Penn State will be adding to the growing list of draft picks coached by James Franklin.

Penn State is one of the schools known for producing a good amount of NFL talent and although the Nittany Lions may not have the most first-round picks or the most picks overall, odds are a good quality NFL roster is going to include a Penn State player or two on it. And with any luck, a future Super Bowl champion will be using a draft pick in 2023 to select a player from Happy Valley.

Here is a list of every Penn State player drafted in the 2023 NFL draft.

WATCH: Phone call that made Ji’Ayir Brown a 49er

Watch: The phone call that ended Ji’Ayir Brown’s draft night wait.

The 49ers knew they really liked Penn State safety Ji’Aiyr Brown. That’s why they made the jump up to No. 87 to make sure they came away with the top player on their board.

General manager John Lynch made the call to Brown, who was briefly drowned out by cheers from his family members in the background before telling Lynch “this is the right move.”

Brown also spoke to head coach Kyle Shanahan and team CEO Jed York.

Better know a 49ers draft pick: S Ji’Ayir Brown

Here are a few things to know about 49ers draft pick Ji’Ayir Brown:

The 49ers are adding a new face to their secondary with Penn State safety Ji’Ayir Brown. We wrote about what his fit is with the club, but there’s plenty more to know about him than what he brings to their roster.

Here are a handful of things to know about Brown as he gets ready to suit up in red and gold:

2023 NFL Draft: The best third-round picks

Third-round picks can have first-round value, and here are the third-round prospects in the 2023 draft most ready to transcend their current status.

Alvin Kamara. Fred Warner. Cooper Kupp. Mark Andrews. Orlando Brown, Jr. Chris Godwin. Terry McLaurin. Trey Hendrickson. Kareem Hunt.

All players taken in the third rounds of their respective drafts over the last few years, and nearly all of them would be first-round (or early second-round) picks in any re-draft.

Maybe you came from a smaller school. Maybe you showed up at combine unready to back up your tape. Maybe you played at a position that has a decreased sense of value in the NFL today. Whatever the reason, just because the league doesn’t deem you worthy of anything more than a third-round selection doesn’t mean that you can’t transcend it with your play on the field.

Among the players selected in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft, here are the ones I believe most ready to do just that.

Twitter reacts to Ji’Ayir Brown being picked by the 49ers

Check out Twitter’s reaction to the 49ers taking Ji’Ayir Brown with their third round pick

Ji’Ayir Brown was one of the most coveted Penn State players coming into the NFL Draft this season. Many analysts and scouts had him rated as one of the top safeties in the draft. With that said, it’s surprising to some that he fell to the third round.

It was rumored that Brown would be a second round draft pick and the second Penn State player taken after [autotag]Joey Porter Jr.[/autotag] That was not the case on Friday when Brown saw his college teammates [autotag]Brenton Strange[/autotag] and [autotag]Juice Scruggs[/autotag] get selected in the second round ahead of him.

Regardless, in the NFL Draft, it’s more about the fit than anything else. Landing on the San Francisco 49ers is a great spot for Brown to go to. They are an aggressive style of defense that should allow him to play downhill like he did while at Penn State.

Here is the Twitter reaction after the 49ers selected Brown with their third round pick of the 2023 NFL Draft.

Penn State safety Ji’Ayir Brown drafted by 49ers in Round 3

Penn State safety Ji’Ayir Brown was drafted by San Francisco 49ers in Round 3.

Another key player from Penn State’s defense is now an NFL draft pick. Safety [autotag]Ji’Ayir Brown[/autotag] was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft with the 24th pick of the third round and 87th overall pick. It was the first pick of the draft for the 49ers.

Brown was one of the many players to come to Penn State from Lackawanna College from the JUCO ranks. After playing two seasons of JUCO football, Brown committed to Penn State and joined the Nittany Lions in 2020. After one season as a backup, Brown emerged as a playmaker in the Nittany Lions secondary playing alongside former draft pick Jaquan Brisker, who also came to Penn State from Lackawanna College a year before Brown

Brown ended his Penn State career with 153 tackles in three seasons, including the shortened 2020 season. Brown came up with 10 interceptions, including six in 2021.

The Penn State safety went out on top with the Nittany Lions by being a key player in Penn State’s Rose Bowl victory to cap the 2022 season. Brown earned the game’s defensive MVP honor after recording 1.5 sacks and coming up with a 22-yard interception against Pac-12 champion Utah in the final game of his college career.

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Every NFL draft pick coached by James Franklin

Zac Stacy, Jordan Matthews, Saquon Barkley, Micah Parsons, and every other NFL draft pick who played for James Franklin.

[autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] got his first head coaching opportunity with Vanderbilt after the 2010 season despite previously being the head coach-in-waiting at Maryland. The Commodores are not necessarily known for producing a tremendous amount of NFL talent, but Vanderbilt managed to send a few players off to the next level by way of the NFL draft under the guidance of Franklin, who has experience as an assistant coach in the NFL.

In the years Franklin was the head coach at Vanderbilt, from 2011 through 2013, Vanderbilt had seven players drafted. And a few more who would go on to be drafted later on out of Vanderbilt were brought into the program initially by Franklin and his staff. The seven players drafted from Vanderbilt from Franklin’s three seasons with the program is the most draft picks from Vanderbilt in a three-year span in school history since 1957-1969 saw 11 players selected by NFL teams, in the days of a draft lasting at least 20 rounds.

Since arriving at Penn State in 2014, Franklin has seen a growing number of his players go on to be drafted by NFL franchises, including an offensive rookie of the year in running back [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag] in 2018 and a defensive rookie of the year in linebacker [autotag]Micah Parsons[/autotag] in 2021.

Here is a look at every player drafted by an NFL team that had James Franklin as a head coach in their last game before being drafted, beginning with Franklin’s time at Vanderbilt.

And once you are done checking out this list, here is a list of every Penn State player drafted in the first round of the NFL draft since Penn State joined the Big Ten.

Eagles updated mock draft ahead of Rounds 2-3 of the NFL draft

The Philadelphia Eagles add depth at two key positions and acquire a 2024 3rd-round pick in this updated mock draft ahead of Rounds 2-3

The Eagles landed two of the NFL draft’s top 15 players on Thursday night, and it is even sweeter after Howie Roseman drafted the fourth former Georgia Bulldogs defender.

Jalen Carter was the pick at No. 9, and after patiently waiting, Philadelphia’s GM doubled back and landed one of the top edge rushers in the country with Nolan Smith.

Super Bowls are won in Rounds 2 and 3, and the Eagles will have two selections on Friday after acquiring a 2023 third-round pick (No. 66 overall) from the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for a 2023 third-round pick (No. 94 overall) and a 2024 fifth-round pick.

With two more rounds set to be completed, here’s an updated mock draft with two trades.