Ji'Ayir Brown

Ji'Ayir A'Veon Brown (born January 25, 2000) is an American professional football safety for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Lackawanna Panthers and Penn State Nittany Lions.

Ji'Ayir Brown

Brown at the 2023 NFL Combine
No. 27 – San Francisco 49ers
Position:	Safety
Personal information
Born:	(2000-01-25) January 25, 2000 (age 25) Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.
Height:	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:	202 lb (92 kg)
Career information
High school:	Trenton Central (NJ)
College:	Lackawanna (2018–2019) Penn State (2020–2022)
NFL draft:	2023: 3rd round, 87th pick
Career history
San Francisco 49ers (2023–present)
Roster status:	Active
Career highlights and awards
PFWA All-Rookie Team (2023) 2× Third-team All-Big Ten (2021, 2022)
Career NFL statistics as of 2024
Total tackles: 112 Pass deflections: 10 Interceptions: 3 Stats at Pro Football Reference

Early life

Brown was born on January 25, 2000, in Trenton, New Jersey where he attended and played high school football for Trenton Central High School.^[1]

College career

Lackawanna College

Brown attended Lackawanna College in 2018 and 2019.^[2] In 2019, he was the Northeast JC Football Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

Penn State

In 2020, Brown transferred to Penn State University. After spending his first year in 2020 as a backup, he took over as a starter in 2021.^[3][4] In 13 starts, he had 73 tackles, six interceptions and one touchdown.^[5] Brown returned to Penn State in 2022.^[6][7] He was named the defensive MVP of the 2023 Rose Bowl.^[8]

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables

Height	Weight	Arm length	Hand span	40-yard dash	10-yard split	20-yard split	20-yard shuttle	Vertical jump	Broad jump	Bench press
5 ft 11+3⁄8 in (1.81 m)	203 lb (92 kg)	31+1⁄4 in (0.79 m)	10+1⁄8 in (0.26 m)	4.58 s	1.59 s	2.63 s	4.21 s	35.5 in (0.90 m)	10 ft 4 in (3.15 m)	18 reps
Sources:[9][10]

2023

The San Francisco 49ers selected Brown in the third round (87th overall) of the 2023 NFL draft.^[11] The 49ers orchestrated a trade with the Minnesota Vikings in order to secure their ability to draft Brown by trading their third- (102nd overall), fifth- (164th overall), and seventh-round (222nd overall) picks to the Vikings in return for their third-round (87th overall) pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. He was the fourth safety selected in 2023.

On May 13, 2023, the San Francisco 49ers signed Brown to a four–year, $5.39 million rookie contract that includes a signing bonus of $924,224.^[12]

Throughout training camp, he competed for the role as the starting free safety against veteran Tashaun Gipson under defensive coordinator Steve Wilks.^[13] Head coach Kyle Shanahan named him a backup and listed him as the No. 2 free safety on the depth chart, behind starting safeties Tashaun Gipson and Talanoa Hufanga.^[14]

On September 10, 2023, Brown made his professional regular season debut in the San Francisco 49ers' season-opener at the Pittsburgh Steelers, but was limited to nine snaps on special teams during their 30–7 victory. On November 19, 2023, Brown made four combined tackles (two solo), set a season-high with three pass deflections, and made his first career interception on a pass attempt thrown by Baker Mayfield to wide receiver Chris Godwin in the fourth quarter of a 27–14 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He entered the game in the third quarter, replacing Talanoa Hufanga after he injured his knee.^[15] On November 21, 2023, Brown was officially named the starting strong safety for the remainder of the season after Talanoa Hufanga was placed on injured reserve due to a torn ACL. In Week 12, he earned his first career start and recorded four combined tackles (one solo) during a 35–13 victory at the Seattle Seahawks. In Week 14, Brown tied his season-high of six combined tackles (five solo), made one pass deflection, and intercepted a pass by Drew Lock to wide receiver D. K. Metcalf as the 49ers defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28–16.^[16] On December 25, 2023, Brown made five combined tackles (three solo) before exiting in the third quarter of a 19–33 loss against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football after injuring his knee. He subsequently remained inactive for the last two games (Weeks 17–18) of the season due to his knee injury.^[17] He finished his rookie season with a total of 35 combined tackles (22 solo), four pass deflections, and two interceptions in 15 games and five starts.^[18] He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.^[19] He received an overall grade of 73.4 from Pro Football Focus as a rookie in 2023.^[20]

Brown recorded an interception off of Patrick Mahomes during Super Bowl LVIII against the Kansas City Chiefs, although San Francisco would go on to fall short, 25–22 in overtime.^[21] In addition, he recorded 11 total tackles in the game.^[22]

2024

Brown entered the 2024 season as the 49ers' presumptive starting safety, but after struggling in multiple games^[23] he was benched in favor of rookie Malik Mustapha.^[24][25]

NFL career statistics

Legend
Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	Games		Tackles				Interceptions				Fumbles
		GP	GS	Cmb	Solo	Ast	Sck	PD	Int	Yds	TD	FF	FR	Yds	TD
2023	SF	15	5	35	22	13	0.0	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
2024	SF	16	13	72	46	26	0.0	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Career		31	18	107	68	39	0.0	9	3	0	0	0	0	0	0

Postseason

Year	Team	Games		Tackles				Interceptions				Fumbles
		GP	GS	Cmb	Solo	Ast	Sck	PD	Int	Yds	TD	FF	FR	Yds	TD
2023	SF	2	2	21	12	9	0.0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Career		2	2	21	12	9	0.0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0