Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1366480
T here was a bit of hesitance in Jahan Dotson's words as they left his lips, with the star Penn State wideout perhaps somewhat reluctant to admit that the best individual plays of the spring had been made by a player on the defensive side of the ball. But Ji'Ayir Brown left Dotson with no choice. He had to tip his cap. "Last week he had two crazy intercep- tions in one period," Dotson said. "That's not really normal I would say, to have two interceptions in the same period, but he made two tremendous plays on the ball, and it was pretty cool to watch. ... Those were definitely, I would say, the biggest plays of the spring." Entering his second season at Penn State, the juco transfer from Lackawanna College earned plenty of praise this spring from players and coaches on both sides of the ball. He's among a handful of players competing to start at safety alongside an- other Lackawanna transfer, Jaquan Brisker, now that Lamont Wade has moved on to the professional ranks. Brisker has been at Penn State since 2019 and has successfully navigated the path that Brown is now attempting to walk. Having emerged as one of the best safeties in the Big Ten last season, Brisker said he can envision Brown making a sim- ilar jump in year two. "It's his second year, so now he's getting his feet under him," Brisker said. "He's starting to know what he's doing. Then obviously once you know what you're doing, you get to play fast and make your plays that you're supposed to make that you were used to making all your life." Brisker cited Brown's growing familiarity with the playbook, calling it the key to the "big leap" he's shown signs of making. Getting comfortable with Penn State's coaching staff and its expectations is also a process, Brisker said, and now that Brown has completed it, he should be able to play more freely. "Obviously, he's doing very good things on the field, making turnovers, bringing energy to the defense," Brisker said. "A lot of defensive players are bringing very good energy to the team. He's very fast and he's one to remem- ber." Brown appeared in all nine games for the Nittany Lions last season, with 130 snaps to his name on defense along with some special teams contributions. Interest- ingly, 27 of those snaps came at slot corner, where Penn State cornerbacks coach Terry Smith said the Nittany Lions can use Brown if the situation calls for a bigger body. Brown is battling in what Smith called a "wide open" competition for that second starting job at safety. Even with spring practice hav- ing drawn to a close, it's hard to discern who might have the edge. Still, when James Franklin was asked about Brown earlier this spring, the eighth-year Penn State coach said he's "kind of standing out right now." "[Brown] has had a really good spring," Franklin said. "I think he's leading us right now in turnovers. He's just much more comfortable and much more confi- dent, which we typically see in second- year players, whether you're a second-year high school or second-year junior college player. He's an awesome young man in general. He's very appre- ciative of the opportunity to be here at Penn State. He's from Trenton [N.J.] originally, and obviously Lackawanna re- ally prepared him." ■ Teammates see Brown taking leap forward in year two | COMFORT ZONE Brown is able to play faster after spending last season acclimat- ing to Penn State's scheme. Photo by Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics