2022 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: S Jaquan Brisker, Penn State

Penn State's Jaquan Brisker is one of the top safety prospects at his position in this draft class. What does he have to offer a team?

Author:
Nick Falato
Publish date:
Feb 3, 2022 12:15 PM EST

In this story:

Penn State Nittany Lions

Jaquan Brisker, SAF

Height: 6’1
Weight: 200 lbs.
Class: Senior
School: Penn State

A four-star recruit out of Gateway High School in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, Brisker had to start his collegiate career at the JUCO powerhouse, Lackawanna College, due to being academically ineligible.

After enrolling at Lackawanna College and improving his grades, he committed to transfer to Penn State over schools like Alabama, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Pittsburgh, Utah, West Virginia, and Maryland. It’s safe to say he was highly sought after once eligible.

Brisker played in 13 games with 32 tackles, two interceptions, and three passes defended in his first season with the Nittany Lions. He finished his collegiate career with 11 passes defended and five interceptions, with only one touchdown surrendered. He also had 115 tackles and 49 STOPS in three seasons. According to Pro Football Focus, Brisker was the sixth-highest safety in terms of coverage in the FBS.

Notables

He earned second-team All-American honors in 2021 while finishing first-team All-Big Ten. He was also Third-Team All-Big Ten in 2020. Brisker was one of the many players who decided to utilize the extra year of eligibility granted due to the pandemic. Brisker opted out of the Outback Bowl to prepare for the 2022 NFL Draft. He will be in Mobile for the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

Strengths

Solid overall size for safety
Excellent lower body explosiveness, and a great overall athlete
Great body control and balance
Good speed, fluidity in space, and change of direction skills
Good range while playing centerfield in MOFC defenses
Has the versatility to drop in the box, play single-high, deep-half, and the slot
Can do almost anything a defensive coordinator asks
Insanely smart at robber, single high, and plays with great eye-discipline
Mental processing is solid in multiple roles
Physical at the catch point - great level of disruptiveness
Excellent run support defender
Does a solid job disengaging blocks and finding ballcarriers
Great play strength in run support, delivers power, pop, and has a good tackle radius
Plays with a high level of competitive toughness
Was the engine of one of the better FBS defenses
Can be a great blitzer with good pursuit - a heat-seeking missile with momentum

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Can Improve

Have seen questionable angles to the football
Won’t be a dynamic man coverage safety - has been caught flat-footed
Can be overly aggressive in pursuit, leads to missed tackles (had 10 missed tackles, 13.5% in 2021)
He will be an older rookie at 23

Summary

Overall, Jaquan Brisker is a potential first-round talent who excels with physicality, run support, and has plenty of competent experience playing deep zones. He is very versatile and was used in a variety of ways. He has the athletic capabilities and range to execute any role at the NFL level.

His technique in man coverage could improve, and he does become a bit overly aggressive at times coming from depth. However, I appreciate his ability to hit, his processing while executing multiple roles, and the control he plays with in space. A safety hasn’t been selected in the first round since Darnell Savage in 2019 by the Packers.

This year that will change with Notre Dame’s Kyle Hamilton, who is akin to Isaiah Simmons (linebacker/safety hybrid). Ultimately, I think Brisker will land in the second round, but he will be a good NFL contributor early on in his career.

GRADE: 6.8