7 Terrell Edmunds replacement options for Steelers in the 2023 NFL Draft

4. Ji’Ayir Brown, 5’11”, 203, Penn State

Another hot, but possibly divisive, player in this class who also plays safety in the Big Ten and whose last name is Brown is Ji’Ayir Brown from Penn State. In late February, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah ranked Brown as his #40 overall player and the best safety in the class. Brown began his career at Lackawanna Community College, a feeder JUCO for schools like Penn State and West Virginia.

Brown then transferred to PSU in 2020 and appeared rotationally in nine games. In 2021, he started all 13 games, mostly as a box safety, while in 2022 when he started all 13 games again, he was more of a free safety. 

Brown is an attractive player for the Steelers because of his knack for splash plays. He has 19 passes defended, 10 career interceptions, nine tackles for loss, four-and-a-half sacks, and three forced fumbles. He is exceptionally versatile and plays with his hair on fire. The problem is that Brown did not test particularly well at the Combine, only earning an RAS of 5.38. His aggressiveness can also come back to bite him, as he has some issues with missing tackles.

The Steelers are somewhat hard to pin down regarding their draft strategy because they do not have many hard/fast rules. There are times when they take undersized players; they will take relatively unathletic players; they could select players who are extra experienced or very raw. So Brown is a realistic possibility, but it’s hard to pin down exactly where they would take him.