Jaquan Brisker Scouting Report: NFL Draft Prospect Report

 

Safety, Penn State, # 1

 

Jaquan Brisker Measurements

6′ 1″ / 200 lbs

40 Time: 4.30 seconds

 

Jaquan Brisker NFL Draft Player Profile

Jaquan was a three-time letterman at Gateway Senior High School in Pennsylvania. During his senior season, Brisker would tie a school record with 42 receptions for 781 yards and 11 touchdowns. Jaquan would start his collegiate career at Lackawanna College, where he would play two seasons. During his sophomore season Brisker would lead the Falcons to an 11-0 record, the #6 ranking in the nation, an El Toro Bowl Birth, while racking up plenty of awards along the way.

 

• 3-time Northeast Football Conference Defensive Player of the Week
• Led team with 64 tackles (including 17 tackles for loss and nine sacks)
• Named Defensive Player of the Game for the El Toro Bowl
• Selected All-Northeast Football Conference First Team
• Northeast Football Conference Defensive Player of the Year
• Selected First-Team NJCAA All-American

Jaquan would sign with Penn St. rated as a four-star recruit by 247Sports and ESPN. During his junior season, Brisker would play in all 13 of Penn St.’s games. Jaquan would finish with 32 tackles (15 solo), 3 passes defended and tied for the team lead with 2 interceptions. Penn St. would finish 11-2 and Brisker would be named to Pro Football Focus’ All-Big Ten Third Team. During Brisker’s original senior season, he would play and start in all nine games. He would finish third on the team with 57 tackles (33 solo), 3 tackles for loss (tops among defensive backs), had a team-high 6 passes defended, and added an interception. For this, Jaquan would be listed on many different post season teams.

 

• All-American First Team by Pro Football Focus
• All-American Honorable Mention by Phil Steele
• All-Big Ten First Team by Pro Football Focus
• Phil Steele All-Big Ten Second Team
• All-Big Ten Third Team by coaches
• Honorable MentionAll-Big Ten by the media

Brisker would use a NCAA rule that allowed him to come back for a 5^th season to play for Penn St. So far this season Jaquan has helped the Nittany Lions off to a 5-1 start, totaling 25 tackles, three passes defended, and two interceptions.

 

Jaquan Brikser Strengths

 

Sideline to Sideline Player

This isn’t really a term that you hear a bunch in regards to a defensive back. However, Jaquan shows the ability to cover from one sideline to the other. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the passing game or running game. Brisker has the speed needed to close the distance between him and the ball carrier and make the play. Jaquan also helps himself by being able to quickly read and diagnose the play.

 

Aggressive

 

As I mentioned above, Brisker is really good at being able to quickly diagnose what the offense is doing play to play. Once he picks up on the play, his sole mindset at that point is to get to the ball as quickly as he can. Whether it’s in the air or supporting on run defense, Jaquan plays like he’s insulted at the thought that anyone else thinks they have the right to touch his football. When he closes in on the ball, the ball carrier best be ready because Brisker is looking to punish them.

 

Holds Up Well in Run Support

One of the biggest surprises I had when watching Jaquan was how well he did in run support. He can play up in the box, isn’t afraid to stick his nose in there, and doesn’t just get absolutely pushed around by offensive lineman. Brisker does a really good job of using his speed to get around blocks and always seems to be able to help finish off the tackle.

 

Jaquan Brisker Weaknesses

 

Aggressiveness

 

I mentioned this as a positive because it plays into Jaquan’s style of play and what makes him the great player that he is. However, it is a double-edged sword for him. I mentioned that he seems to play with a single-mindedness of getting to the ball carrier as quickly as possible. From time to time, this aggressiveness turns into over aggressiveness. This causes Brisker to over pursue the ball carrier, taking himself out of the play all together.

 

Tackling

While the over aggressiveness is something that I could personally live with, poor tackling isn’t. This isn’t to say that Brisker can’t tackle, but his open field tackling is a slight area of concern for me. Again it all comes back to how aggressive he likes to play. If he can slow himself down from time to time, I think he’ll fix both of these weaknesses that I’ve mentioned.

 

Jaquan Brisker Final Thoughts and Draft Stock

Brisker was a player that caught my eye during the Penn St.-Auburn game. Once I watched more of him, and realized it wasn’t just a flash game, I had to wonder why I hadn’t heard more about him. I don’t think he’s the best safety in the class; that easily goes to Kyle Hamilton. However, he might just be the second best; in fact ESPN’s Mel Kiper would agree with me on that. In my opinion Brisker is a first round talent, but I think Jaquan’s biggest issue (much like Kyle Hamilton), is how safeties have been viewed in recent NFL drafts. The 2019 NFL Draft was the last time a safety was taken in the first round. So while I believe he’s a first round talent, Brisker might find himself falling into the early second round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

Jaquan Brisker NFL Comparison: If asked to give of comparison of Jaquan; I would say that while he’s not as solid of a tackler, he reminds me of former Miami Dolphins’ safety Reshad Jones.

Jaquan Brisker Scouting Report by Brandon Claburn