Tag: Ji’Ayir Brown

Final College Sports Wires mock draft predicts where Joey Porter Jr. lands in 2023 NFL draft

Could the Washington Commanders go back-to-back years drafting a Penn State player in the first round? This mock draft thinks so.

The 2023 NFL draft is just days away and Penn State cornerback [autotag]Joey Porter Jr.[/autotag] continues to be on track to make some school history. The Nittany Lions have never had a cornerback selected in the first round of an NFL draft, but Porter Jr. is widely expected to be the first. Porter Jr. will be attending the draft in person, almost assuring his name will be called by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell at some point during the first round of the draft on Thursday night.

Where Porter Jr. goes in the first round remains almost anyone’s guess. But according to the final mock draft from our friend Patrick Conn of College Sports Wire, it looks like Porter Jr. will be lining up in practices against a former teammate in State College. According to Conn’s final mock draft, Porter Jr. could be heading to the Washington Commanders with the 16th overall pick.

“Washington is going to need to address the cornerback spot for 2023 and Joey Porter Jr definitely checks all the boxes for the Commanders,” Conn writes in his mock draft. “He can help combat the number of receivers Washington has to face in the NFC East.”

If that pick comes to fruition, it would be the second year in a row Washington would have drafted a Penn State player in the first round. Jahan Dotson was selected in the first round by Washignton in 2022 to help add to the wide receiver corp in Washington. Drafting Porter Jr. would likely lead to some more practice battles between Dotson and Porter Jr. like in their Penn State days together, which would surely be fun to see.

Regardless of where he ends up going, Porter Jr. is expected to be heading somewhere in the first round and could potentially be in the top half of the first round as one of the top cornerback prospects on the big board. Whether he is the first cornerback to be drafted remains to be seen, but he will still be very likely to be the first cornerback chosen in the first round from Penn State in NFL draft and school history.

Conn’s mock draft also projects safety [autotag]Ji’Ayir Brown[/autotag] to the Green Bay Packers in the third round (no. 78 overall) and tight end [autotag]Brenton Strange[/autotag] to the LA Chargers in the third round (no. 85 overall).

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2023 NFL Draft prospect profile: Ji’Ayir Brown, Safety

Penn State’s Ji’Ayir Brown is a player to watch in the upcoming NFL draft.

Penn State relied on their defense heavily the past two years and their ability to make plays to get the ball back in the offense’s hands. One major component that allowed them to get the ball back so often was the play of Ji’Ayir Brown.

The now former Nittany Lion did not have a conventional journey to State College, making him a better player overall. As he makes his journey to the NFL, he hopes that his playmaking ability will be enough for a team to call him over the three days of the 2023 NFL draft to play for them.

Here is a look at Juice Scruggs with updated measurables following the NFL combine and Penn State’s pro day.

1 safety for the Vikings for every round of the 2023 NFL draft

The Minnesota Vikings are relatively strong at safety, but they could target one during the NFL Draft.

As the NFL Draft approaches, the Minnesota Vikings must address several needs, especially at wide receiver and cornerback positions.

Currently, the Vikings have Harrison Smith and Cam Bynum and in last year’s draft, they selected safety Lewis Cine in the first round. Those three make it unlikely for the team to prioritize selecting another safety early on or at all.

It’s still important to examine the safety draft class. Let’s take one safety option for the Vikings in each round of the draft.

49ers 2023 prospect watch: Penn State S Ji’Ayir Brown would be mid-round steal

Whether the #49ers need a free safety is up for debate, but Ji’Ayir Brown is a plug-and-play starter if the team feels it needs to improve at that spot.

The 2023 NFL draft will teach us a lot about how the 49ers view their roster at safety. It can be argued that free safety is one of their top needs. It can also be argued they’re all set at the position depending on how the team feels about free agent addition Myles Hartsfield. San Francisco could certainly make a move up in the draft to try and add a safety prospect who offers a long-term answer at FS, and Penn State’s Ji’Ayir Brown could be that player.

Brown had a 30 visit with the 49ers according to the Draft Network’s Justin Melo.

Watching Brown play football is a delight. He’s constantly around the football and gets downhill with a lot of force. His athletic testing numbers don’t match the functional athleticism he shows on tape.

It stands to reason he can play either up high or down near the line of scrimmage with enough coverage skills to hang with receivers or tight ends. Brown posted a whopping 19 pass breakups and 10 interceptions over the last three years with the Nittany Lions. He also racked up 4.5 sacks last year with nine tackles for loss.

He is a force in the secondary and a player the 49ers could easily see as a long-term replacement for FS Jimmie Ward. Brown doesn’t have Ward’s versatility where he can come down and play nickel cornerback full time, but he has plenty of tools to be a versatile playmaker in the NFL. If San Francisco thinks it needs to come away with a high-end safety in this year’s draft, Brown would be a fine player to target.

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1 safety for the Vikings for every round of the 2023 NFL draft

Even though the Minnesota Vikings are set at safety, you should always be prepared if a talented prospect falls down the board.

As the NFL Draft approaches, the Minnesota Vikings must address several needs, especially at wide receiver and cornerback positions.

Currently, the Vikings have Harrison Smith and Cam Bynum, and in last year’s draft, they selected safety Lewis Cine in the first round. Making it unlikely for the team to prioritize selecting another safety early on or at all.

It’s still important to examine the safety draft class. Let’s take one safety option for the Vikings in each round of the draft.

Every NFL team visit by Penn State players in 2023 NFL draft

Here is a list of every NFL team that has interviewed a Penn State player leading up to the 2023 NFL draft.

One of the big parts of the NFL draft process is a throwback for prospects to when they were in high school. They have all 32 teams that can ask for them to attend a visit as a form of recruiting but also getting to know the player better they may be drafting.

Each team gets 30 visits prior to the draft and with hundreds of players in the pool, each visit is valuable. When a team uses that visit on a player it is a great sign for them being drafted and for how the league sees them.

For players in the draft pool from Penn State, several have been receiving invites from a litany of teams across the league.

2023 NFL Draft: The top 9 safeties

From Brian Branch to Jartavius Martin, here are Doug Farrar’s top nine safeties in the 2023 NFL draft class.

In the modern NFL, it’s the rare safety who’s paid to be just a safety. Three players classified as safeties finished the 2022 season with six interceptions: Minkah Fitzpatrick of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Justin Simmons of the Denver Broncos, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson of the Philadelphia Eagles. Each of those players had more than 100 snaps in the slot last season, and Gardner-Johnson’s deployment may have been most indicative of the ways in which defensive coordinators would like most of their safeties to play. He had 443 snaps at free safety, 202 in the box, and 208 in the slot.

If you are going to be a traditional deep safety most of the time, as Quandre Diggs of the Seattle Seahawks was with a league-leading 1,012 of his 1,221 snaps in the deep third, you’d better be some kind of ballhawk. Last season, only 21 players had more than 600 snaps at pure free safety, and the slot percentages for most safeties have increased exponentially over the last few years. In an NFL where nickel is the new base defense, and most defenses are playing as much or more dime than old-school base, the ways things worked before don’t work now most of the time.

So, when we look at the top nine draft prospects classified as safeties in this draft class, we’re focusing on positional versatility above all, and if positional versatility isn’t the thing, there had best be one mega/alpha skill if you want to make this list.

No matter where they play on the field from snap to snap, here are our nine best safeties for the 2023 NFL draft.

(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus, Sports Info Solutions, and Football Outsiders unless otherwise indicated).

(All prospect measurement percentiles courtesy of MockDraftable.com). 

Breaking down Eagles picks in seven-round mock draft from ESPN’s Jordan Reid

We’re breaking down the latest seven-round 2023 NFL mock draft from ESPN’s Jason Reid that landed Philadelphia Nolan Smith and three other defenders

The 2023 NFL draft is fast approaching, and as all 32 teams across the league increase their focus, scouts within the organization are doing their due diligence on all prospects.

Thanks to some draft night wizardry from Howie Roseman, the Eagles traded the No. 16 overall pick, No. 19 overall pick, and a 2022 sixth-round pick to the New Orleans Saints for the No. 18 overall pick, a 2022 third-round pick, a 2022 seventh-round pick, a 2023 first-round pick, and a 2024 second-round pick.

Philadelphia has a Super Bowl-caliber offense and needs to reload on defense.

ESPN’s Jason Reid released his latest seven-round mock draft, and we break down all six picks.

Giants attend Penn State University pro day

The New York Giants attended the Penn State pro day on Friday and talked with center Juice Scruggs.

The New York Giants have cast a wide net this offseason and that has continued with their presence at multiple college pro days around the country.

General manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll have been on the road, going from city to city as their scouting efforts increase. But they certainly haven’t been alone as other Giants personnel are also making stops at multiple universities.

On Friday, the Giants stopped in at the Penn State pro day with eyes on a few specific prospects.

In addition to safety Ji’Ayir Brown, the Giants also caught up with center Juice Scruggs.

The Giants have a need at both positions but perhaps no need is more glaring than center. The team lost both Nick Gates (Washington Commanders) and Jon Feliciano (San Francisco 49ers) and are now without a true anchor in the middle of their offensive line.

Scruggs is widely viewed as a late-round pick and may not represent the Day 1 starter needed by the Giants, but he’s an interesting prospect nonetheless. NFL Network’s Lance Zierlein describes him as “dependable” and “consistent,” which is likely music to the ears of Daboll.

A two-year starter with center/guard versatility, Scruggs is dependable and consistent in carrying out his assignment to the best of his ability. He plays like a block of granite that is difficult to push back or knock off-balance, but he’s more of a neutralizer than road grader. He plays with solid technique and possesses the play strength to hold his own in the middle. The lack of foot quickness shows up with athletic defenders leaking around his edges and that issue could be exacerbated if teams play him at guard. Scruggs has the potential to go from backup to eventual starter if the situation is right.

There are no pro days scheduled on Saturday or Sunday, so the Giants will finally get a couple of days off.

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How Ji’Ayir Brown fits with every team in the AFC East

Here is how Ji’Ayir Brown fits with every team in the AFC East.

The 2023 NFL draft is nearing, and Penn State has a few notable players to keep on your radar for this spring.

First, wide receiver [autotag]Parker Washington[/autotag]. Washington would be a fun player to watch in a starting slot role for plenty of NFL teams around the league. Sure, we haven’t really seen Washington be that number one option. However, he also had players like [autotag]Jahan Dotson[/autotag] in 2021 and [autotag]Mitchell Tinsley[/autotag] and a talented running back duo of [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] and [autotag]Kaytron Allen[/autotag] around him in 2022.

Another player is [autotag]Joey Porter Jr[/autotag], who could likely be a first-round draft pick in the spring.

Another player is [autotag]Ji’Ayir Brown[/autotag]. Brown really made a name for himself throughout the 2021 season, and his production continued in 2022.

There are plenty of teams around the NFL that could use an athletic and versatile player like Brown.

Let’s take a look at how Ji’Ayir Brown fits with every team in the AFC East.