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New York Giants Draft Prospect Profile: SAF Sydney Brown

Might the Giants look to add a safety in the draft?

Nick Falato

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Sydney Brown, SAF

Height: 5-foot-10
Weight: 211 lbs.
Class: Senior
School: Illinois
Arm length: 31 ½”
Hand size: 10 ¼”
Age: 23 (03/21/2000)

Was born and raised in London, Ontario in, Canada, with his twin brother Chase Brown, who was a running back for Illinois in this draft. The Browns transferred from London South Collegiate Institute to Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School in Bradenton, Florida, in 2016.

He helped his high school earn back-to-back State Athletic Conference Championships. Sydney Brown was a three-star recruit in the 2018 cycle, where he ranked 121st as a safety and was the 256th prospect coming out of Florida. His father played for the London Beefeaters of the Canadian Junior Football League, and his mother was a figure skater.

Notables

Brown exercised his fifth year of eligibility and was named team captain of the Fightin’ Illini in 2022. [COLLEGE STATS]

Pro Football Focus had Brown with 25 STOPs in 2022 and 5 pressures on his way to First Team All-Big-10 honors; he was also a USA Today Second-Team All-American. Brown has 3,168 snaps to his name, with three defensive touchdowns throughout his college career, ten interceptions, and 16 passes defended are nothing to ignore.

He’s done well for himself in the offseason with a stellar combine and a Reese’s Senior Bowl week that was solid.

Strengths

  • A ball of muscle in a 5’10 frame
  • Adequate length, gigantic hands, and a filled-out - rocked-up - frame
  • Good overall athlete with elite burst coming downhill
  • Hips aren’t super oily, but they’re sufficient
  • Sudden player with good lateral agility
  • Physical player at the line of scrimmage - disrupts the release of tight ends
  • Smart defender who baited a few interceptions in his career
  • Plays well from depth - good choice of angles to the football
  • Good zone coverage player who processes at a high level
  • Good man coverage, from press where he can dictate terms at the LOS
  • Solid man coverage from a cushion, albeit high-end tight ends could give him trouble
  • Found the football in college - 10 career interceptions
  • Quick closer on receivers - heavy hitter
  • Elite play strength on contact when he delivers hits
  • Violent alley defender who can decleat opponents
  • Despite tackling struggles, he’s still a plus in run support
  • Can fill the alley from middle of the field closed/open or apex
  • Does a solid job containing on the edge - can set the edge well vs. TEs
  • Discerns filling vs. RPO/PA well - exercises discipline
  • Does well to keep himself clean when in the vicinity of blocks
  • Physical enough to stack & shed to locate football
  • Wasn’t tasked to blitz much but he imposed pain on opposing QBs/RBs when given free access
  • Has the traits to be a plus blitzer
  • Versatile player who can handle multiple resonpsinbilites
  • A very experienced player with a lot of football under his belt

Weaknesses

  • Short - Not the longest player
  • Does he have the range to play single-high?
  • Can tempo/control his elite burst to improve tackle rate
  • Misses too many tackles (14 misses in 2022)
  • Some of his missed tackles were just frustrating
  • Open field tackling can improve
  • Slightly older for a prospect at 23

Summary

Sydney Brown is an intimidating force - a shock player - on defense who can start as a sub-package player in nickel, dime, and dollar personnel. He is sufficient in man or zone coverage. As a zone defender, he is good in the middle hook, curl/flat, robber, and deep half responsibilities.

Displayed solid eye discipline when reading and passing off routes (Illinois ran a lot of man coverage). He is a solid overall man coverage safety. His hips aren’t the most fluid, but they’re passable. Although explosive and fast, I question his range about executing single-high assignments in MOFC - he played mostly near the box the last two seasons.

Brown can handle most safety roles but may be best as an enforcer who can leverage his hit power and forceful nature to dictate near the line of scrimmage. He can do this from depth or as an apex defender, leveraging his discernment skills vs. RPO teams. However, one of Brown’s biggest weaknesses was his missed tackle rate.

Brown missed 70 tackles through five seasons at college - a missed tackle rate of 17.8%. Players will be more athletic and nimble at the next level, so this area of concern must be addressed. Still, he’s a good athlete in his own right, and physicality is not an issue. Brown should be a solid addition to any NFL team and will likely adapt well to the defense that chooses him.

GRADE: 6.14 

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Nick Falato
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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.

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