Ji'Ayir Brown: S · Penn State · #16.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Ji'Ayir Brown
Hits like a linebacker and still takes the ball away. Third year in the same secondary at Penn State. All-Big Ten in 2022 made it two straight seasons on the honors list. One game to point at: 9 tackles and 1 tackle for loss against Michigan — Week 7, 2022.
Play style
Hits like a linebacker and still takes the ball away.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
68 tackles. 5 passes defended. 4 interceptions. 7 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Penn State | 68 | 51 | 7.0 | 4.5 | 5 | 4 |
| 2021 | Penn State | 73 | 61 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 5 | 6 |
| 2020 | Penn State | 6 | 5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- |
| Career | 147 | 117 | 9.0 | 4.5 | 11 | 10 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2022 season · 13 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 35-31@ Purdue | 5 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 2 | W 46-10vs Ohio | 5 | 4 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 3 | W 41-12@ Auburn | 5 | 4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 33-14vs Central Michigan | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 17-7vs Northwestern | 6 | 5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 17-41@ No. 5 Michigan | 9 | 4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 9 tackles |
| Wk 8 | W 45-17vs Minnesota | 7 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Wk 9 | L 31-44vs No. 2 Ohio State | 8 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 45-14@ Indiana | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 30-0vs Maryland | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 12 | W 55-10@ Rutgers | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 35-16vs Michigan State | 7 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | W 35-21vs No. 7 Utah | 2 | 1 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| Total | 68 | 51 | 7.0 | 4.5 | 4 | 5 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
7%5 pass breakupsInterceptions
4interceptionsTackle volume
68tackles this seasonTFL rate
10%7 TFL68 tackles · 7 for loss · 4.5 sacks · 5 pass breakups · 4 interceptions.
3 seasons under James Franklin — 22-13 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2022 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 5.7 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.4 |
| Road5g | 5.2 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 5.1 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 5.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
James Franklin
Pass share
46.9%
422 pass / 477 run
Plays / game
69.2
13 games
Team sack rate
4.4%
451 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2022
Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.
The All-Conference honor is earned — and the box score backs it up emphatically: #2 of 493 FBS safeties by CFB Zeitgeist Score.2022 profile
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #2 at the position.
How it ended
Three seasons at Penn State, 147 tackles — drafted at #87 overall by the San Francisco 49ers.
A stat line in 31 games over three seasons.
The role got bigger.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-BIG TEN
All-Big Ten mention (2022)
Weekly recognition
1 weekly honor (2022)
2 career weekly honors across 2 seasons
Coaching lineage · 2020–2022
1 coachPlayed every college season under James Franklin.
Next stop · NFL
San Francisco 49ersEntering 4th NFL season
San Francisco 49ersEntering 4th NFL season
