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?

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
View all of Nick Falato's draft prospect profiles right here / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

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


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Nick Falato
NICK FALATO

Nick Falato is co-host of the Big Blue Banter podcast. In addition to Giants Country, his work has appeared on SB Nation.