Senior safety on New Mexico's 2026 roster.
5′10″ · 180 lb · Massillon, OH
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
The story
Senior safety on New Mexico's 2026 roster.
Austin Brawley
Moves between deep coverage and the slot. Austin Brawley has played for two head coaches across five seasons and two programs. In 2025 the league put his name on paper for the first time: Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week. The receipt: 9 tackles against Oklahoma — Week 3, 2026.
14 TACKLES · 0 SACKS
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
His career
Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.
Career arc
Coaching lineage · 2022–2026
3 coachesPlayed under 3 different head coaches: Danny Gonzales, Bronco Mendenhall, and Jason Eck. Multi-era developmental context.
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | New Mexico | 14 | 6 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 2 | -- | -- |
| 2025 | New Mexico | 25 | 12 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 3 | 3 | -- |
| 2024 | Ohio | 38 | 23 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 | -- |
| 2023 | Ohio | 41 | 15 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 2 | 2 | -- |
| 2022 | Ohio | 20 | 9 | 2.0 | 1.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 138 | 65 | 7.5 | 2.0 | 9 | 6 | -- |
Game by game
Point color shows the opponent's defensive strength that week (red = weaker defense, blue = stronger) — dashed line is this player's own season average.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 3 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 38-7vs Central Michigan | 4 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 2 | W 70-7vs Mercyhurst | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 6-14@ Oklahoma | 9 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 9 tackles |
| Total | 14 | 6 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 |
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2026
W 70–7
vs Mercyhurst
1 tackles · 1 solo tackles
Dominant 63-point win at home against Mercyhurst.
With C. Steinkamp — 59 yards per punt · 2 punts · 1 inside the 20 · M. Kern — 38.3 yards per punt · 3 punts · 3 inside the 20
Since week 2: +9 tackles.
Season context · Team result + system
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Elite: passes defended (92nd percentile).
Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 3 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home2g | 2.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Road1g | 9.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 4.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.7 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Jason Eck
Pass share
31.6%
62 pass / 134 run
Plays / game
65.3
3 games
Team sack rate
10.8%
83 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy.
Player standing · 2025
Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
CFB Index positional classification
Player DNA
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Kajuan Banks’s 2024 season.
Matches Kajuan on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Caine Savage's senior season at Nevada (2023).
Matches Caine on
Player DNA
18 more on the roster · New Mexico team page