Chase Brown Scouting Report

Chase Brown Scouting Report and NFL Draft Profile

Chase Brown Scouting Report: RB, Illinois

2023 NFL Draft Measurements

40-Yard Dash: 4.42 (estimated)
5‘11“ / 205 lbs.

Chase Brown NFL Draft Profile

I could talk about Chase Brown being a three-star recruit by 247Sports. Or the fact that he was ranked as the 59th best running back in the nation his senior season. I could continue by saying that he was a state champion the leading rushing in Manatee County, Florida while playing for St. Stephen’s Episcopal. Heck, I could even mention that he was the anchor on his school’s state championship 400-meter relay track and field team and that he holds the school record in the 100-meter dash. But that’s not even the most impressive part of Chase Brown’s journey to the footsteps of the NFL.

No, it actually begins before that. Living in Ontario, Canada the Browns were going through a tough time. After the birth of Chase’s younger sister, Mya, his mother became ill. They got by thanks to the help of their grandfather for a time. Sadly he passed away, and the inheritance left behind was abused by a family member. This left the Browns struggling, moving from shelter to shelter. Both Chase, and his brother Sydney, were struggling in school. This is when their mother made the tough decision to send her two boys down to Bradenton, Florida to give them a chance at potentially living a better life. Read the full story here.

College

As you can tell from before, it clearly worked out for Chase. He would get numerous offers from Power 5 schools including Purdue, UCF, Illinois, Syracuse, and Wake Forest. Even though his brother would choose to attend Illinois right out of high school, Chase decided to sign with Western Michigan. There is would play in all 13 games his freshman season, racking up 352 yards on 71 carries. After the season, he decided to transfer to Illinois and be reunited with his brother.

After red-shirting his first season with Illinois, and splitting the carries in 2020, he shot into national prominence. During the 2021 season Chase would rush for 1,005 yards on 170 carries (5.9 yards per carry). Coaches, media, PFF, and Phil Steele would all tab Brown as an All-Big Ten third team conference selection.

So, what about a repeat performance? All he did in 2022 was rush for over 1,600 yards on 328 carries with 10 touchdowns. He also caught 27 passes for 240 yards and another three touchdowns. Chase would finish third in the nation and second in the Big Ten in rushing yards per game, while also ranking sixth in the nation in all-purpose yards per game.

For his efforts he was received numerous second and third-team All-American selections, and was named to the All-Big Ten second team by coaches and media. He was also the first ever Doak Walker finalist (award giving to the best running back in the nation) in Illinois school history. All of that is nice, but let’s dig into why teams are looking at him as a pick in this year’s NFL Draft.

Strengths

Patient, Vision, and Explosiveness

It only took two plays. The first play was a simple dive play that was originally well defended. With defenders in his face, Brown took a couple side steps, stretched the play out to the right, saw the hole and exploded for a big 38-yard gain. The next play he came out of the backfield, blew past a linebacker that never had a chance and hauled in a 14-yard touchdown catch. Those were Chase Brown’s first two plays of the 2022 season. And with those two plays he displayed enough skill to make any scout sit on the edge of their seat and take notice. The rest of the season, he didn’t do anything that made me think that it was a fluke either.

Good Change of Direction

I was quite impressed with Chase’s ability to navigate high traffic areas. I feel like an issue a lot of quicker, more explosive running backs run into is changing direction. Sure, they get up to speed quickly, but it’s straight line speed. Brown on the other hand was adapt at being able to stop, change direction, and get back up to speed in small, tight areas. I believe that his patience is a big part of his success. He doesn’t just go full throttle from the beginning. He typically waits for the hole to open up before hitting it at full speed. While his 75% is still fast enough to make people miss, it also gives him the ability to make cuts as needed.

Weaknesses

Pass Blocking

I wish I would have seen a little more pass blocking from him in games. I can’t say that I blame the Illinois coaching staff for having him run routes. His speed and acceleration make him a mismatch problem for most linebackers. It just would’ve been nice to get a better grasp on how well he could do it. Most of the time, from my study, he typically would just dive at feet/legs. At the NFL level, that isn’t going to be enough to take most rushing linebackers out of the pass rush. While it might be something that he can improve out with time, I wouldn’t expect to see him used too terribly much in pass protection in the NFL.

Breaking Tackles

I mentioned Chase’s ability to make cuts earlier. This will lead to a number of missed tackles, but I don’t think he’s got the size and strength to be a consistent tackle breaker. Especially at the NFL level. Even when playing “lower level” competition such as Wyoming, once a defender got a good grasp on him, he never seemed to manage to break away. This isn’t to say that you can knock him down just by giving him a firm shoulder shove. But he’s not going to break out of a pile of defenders either.

Chase Brown Draft Stock

According to NFL Mock Draft Database, Brown is currently ranked as the 130th best prospect. That would put him in line as a 4th round draft pick. This lines up with most of ESPN’s experts, none of whom have Chase as one of their top 5 running backs.

Final Thoughts on Chase Brown Scouting Report

If a team already has a RB1 in place, Chase Brown becomes an intriguing prospect to consider in the draft. Especially if that primary running back is more of a power back, and they’re looking for a nice change of pace guy. While Brown’s explosiveness is a tempting skillset to go after, I don’t think that he’s going to be able to enter the conversation with the likes of Bijan Robinson or Jahmyr Gibbs, as the best running backs in this class.

I’m not sure if his skillset is enough to be “the” guy for a team. I think most teams will see him as that complementary piece. Because of this, I do think that Brown will have to hear his name called a little later in the draft. I think NFL Mock Draft Database had it right with the 4th round projection. Although, whoever gets Brown is going to be very happy with the pick.