For most of the 2021 season, Irish safety DJ Brown was a sound, solid senior contributor.
A co-starter with classmate Houston Griffith opposite All-Everything junior Kyle Hamilton, Brown made plays—three interceptions; x PD—and he helped get his Irish defense off the field, a reality evidenced by his eight ‘Drive MVP’ awards per our film reviews.
(Isaiah Foskey led the team with 28 while Brown’s 8 were as many as TaRiq Bracy and seven more than aforementioned co-starter Griffith.)
But if asked to grade Brown’s 13 game day tests last season, the lasting reality is that his final of 13 assignments was a fail on a pass/fail scale.
Against Oklahoma State, only Clarence Lewis and Cain Madden struggled more than did Brown. It was an odd ending by a safety who could most often be described in the negative as ‘nondescript’ rather than damaging in any way.
Tackling in space was the root of his issue against the Cowboys.
“Our focus this winter was just improving that power that he has, finding a little bit more in that he’s able to pop people a little bit,” said safeties coach Chris O’Leary. “So he's done a great job in the weight room, and it's been pointed out here (in the spring) and starting to show up.”
Brown is one of three Irish safeties who formerly played cornerback (Griffith and Ramon Henderson) and one of four who switched positions (former receiver Xavier Watts).
“That's crazy,” O’Leary noted with a chuckle. “It’s just the natural coverage ability. (Brown) is just a good football player; they’re good football players, so by playing receiver or corner or nickel, they have that vantage point of knowing what to expect. A big picture awareness and the ability to understand what’s going on around them helps them to be better football players.”
Solid. Sound. Reliable. An overlooked “find-the-ball” defender after Hamilton was lost to injury.
Until one game in which he wasn’t. Brown’s fifth and likely final season in South Bend is less about not making mistakes—that’s a fine role for a back line player opposite the remarkable Hamilton—and more about causing them for others.
“Last year it was ‘learn the defense, be in the right spot.’ It was the first time those guys (Brown, Griffith) were taking major reps,” said O’Leary. “Now it's like, We want to be the best safety unit in the country. So what does that take? That takes making plays. And so when you're out there, you're not just out there. To be out there, you gotta go make plays.”
The six-foot, 200-pound safety from Annapolis, MD is today’s feature in our Counting Down the Irish series.
Prister Says: “It seems as if Brown’s abilities/progress are overlooked, and I include myself. But when Kyle Hamilton went down, Brown stepped up his game significantly. The ’22 season didn’t end on a high note – Brown struggled against Oklahoma State – but he might be one of the most under-appreciated players on the roster.”
What To Expect In 2022
One starter is set, Northwestern transfer and 2020 All-American Brandon Joseph.
The other three spots are up for grabs among Brown, Henderson, and Griffith with Watts pressing anyone not as physical as he when contacting the ball-carriers.
It is the Brown vs. Henderson battle that emerged after the spring; the former faring better in the Blue-Gold Game, the latter seemingly holding the edge entering that scrimmage.
The only guarantee is that Brown and Henderson will both play—and the hunch here is they’ll be part of a rotation opposite Joseph with Griffith and Watts finding less field time, at least early as the defense settles in to its third scheme in three seasons.
Said O’Leary of the quartet near spring’s conclusion: “We’ve got four guys that go with the ones and twos. Nobody's a starter…When we go into fall camp, I anticipate being the same.
"Sometimes I put you with the threes, and the quarterback with threes better be shaking his head saying ‘Why the hell are you out there versus threes?’ That's the mindset. They know that, and they understand that, and I think what it builds is an understanding that all of you guys are gonna play We need everybody. So that unit strength that we're looking for—that’s kind of how we're starting to build that.”
Future Prospects
Brown could return for a sixth season (Griffith cannot, 2022 is his *COVID-19 afforded final year). Henderson is a near certainty to remain in South Bend as a senior in ’23 and likely as a fifth-year player in ’24.
Watts’s eligibility mirrors Henderson’s (*they both could play through ’24) while redshirt-freshman Justin Walters should join the fray as the ’22 season progresses. Top tier prospects Peyton Bowen and Adon Shuler will up the ante for their elders upon arrival in ’23.
Part of Brown’s decision at season’s end might first include one made by Joseph, the consensus pre-season All-American could elect to enter the NFL Draft with a strong campaign for an Irish team expected to challenge for a Playoff berth.
Stat Of The Day
Brown graded well per Pro Football Focus’s analytics, last year finishing third among all Irish defenders in overall grade (Isaiah Foskey and Jack Kiser were 1-2) and first among Irish defensive backs in terms of his pass defense. (Hamilton was second, Cam Hart third.)
He was further down the scale in my game charts. Per Irish Illustrated’s film reviews, Brown placed 13th on the defense in ‘Drive MVPs’ (the analysis I believe best determines a player’s impact), just ahead of NaNa Osafo-Mensah, while finishing 10th in Third Down Wins—just ahead of Howard Cross and Clarence Lewis; just behind TaRiq Bracy.
Quote To Note
“I don't want Brandon and DJ to have good communication, but then when X comes in with DJ DJ’s not saying anything. It doesn’t matter who’s next to you. It’s the same statement. By mixing and matching, you’re testing them, challenging them to do that, and I like it to be a little bit uncomfortable. You start getting comfortable at safety, that’s when you got problems on Saturday.” — O’Leary on the plusses, and minuses, of a four-player safety rotation.