Signed out of one of the premiere high school football conferences in Texas, Notre Dame thought they had found a below-the-radar talent when they inked Jalen Brown. He had the length Brian Kelly and Bob Diaco coveted at cornerback. He ran a 10.8 100-meter dash, bringing in speed that the Irish desperately needed.
But entering his senior season, Brown has yet to make much of an impact for the Irish. Faced with a secondary filled with younger players that have passed him on the depth chart, Brown is a senior with a fifth year of eligibility remaining, though if he remains in the background it won’t happen in South Bend.
Let’s take a closer look at Jalen Brown:
JALEN BROWN
6'0.5", 202 lbs.
Senior, No. 21
RECRUITING PROFILE
Brown certainly garnered some impressive offers, with the Irish beating out Arizona, Kansas State, Nebraska and Texas A&M for his services. But Brown didn’t have offers from Oklahoma, Texas or TCU, maybe a predictor that he wasn’t quite as good as the Irish staff hoped.
But the Irish staff saw Brown as a terrific developmental prospect, and listening to their rationale it’s difficult to disagree.
Here’s Brian Kelly from Signing Day 2011:
So a couple of things that are unique. We believe that this guy is destined for great things. And if you want to put a tag on anybody in a class, here’s a steal in our opinion.”
Kelly specifically mentioned Brown’s ability to be a Cover 2 corner, something the Irish were trying to collect to play in Diaco’s system. For a staff that recruited to a specific profile, Brown certainly checked a lot of the right boxes.
PLAYING CAREER
Freshman Season (2011): Did not see game action, redshirted.
Sophomore Season (2012): Saw the field in seven games. Made three total tackles, two unassisted. Chipped in one pass defended against Wake Forest.
Junior Season (2013): Played in two games, against Michigan and Air Force. Did not contribute statistically.
FUTURE POTENTIAL
It’s hard to see much of it for Brown, with KeiVarae Russell, Cody Riggs, Cole Luke and Devin Butler all working ahead of him in the rotation. The shift of Matthias Farley to slot cornerback also doesn’t bode well for playing time either.
But Brown has been given a blank slate with the hiring of Brian VanGorder, and he spent spring practice working at a position that was missing two major contributors with Riggs still at Florida and Butler healing from shoulder surgery.
Brown joins Josh Atkinson as seniors just outside the two deep. It’s an enviable situation for the health of a program, and shows that a staff is recruiting better and better personnel.
CRYSTAL BALL
There’s nothing that points to Brown being more than a reserve in his senior season at Notre Dame. And with a roster filled with fifth year dilemmas, I’d expect the Irish to recruit aggressively and take another commitment instead of keeping Brown as a fifth year backup (unless he makes an unseen leap forward).
Brown’s road to the field looks difficult, especially if he was recruited to play a Cover 2 scheme. It’s hard to project him as a special teams option, otherwise he’d have been one of the bodies helping a unit that badly needed it last year. I expect Brown to move on from Notre Dame after 2014, whether it be with his degree and into the real world or to a program like Chuck Martin’s at Miami (Ohio).
In our limited viewings of Brown, it’s tough to say what his ceiling is as a football player. But with one of the most talented cornerback depth charts we’ve seen in decades at Notre Dame, I doubt we’ll get to see much of it this fall.
***
The Irish A-to-Z
Josh Atkinson
Nicky Baratti
Alex Bars
Hunter Bivin
Grant Blankenship
Jonathan Bonner
Justin Brent
Kyle Brindza
Chris Brown