Jaquan Brisker Explains What Final Days Before Draft Might be Like for Prospects
Ever wonder what the final days leading up to the NFL draft are like for a college prospect?
Penn State safety Jaquan Brisker gave some insight during an interview on Monday night.
Think nerves. As in lots and lots of nervous energy.
“There’s a lot of excitement, but it’s more nervousness,” he said. “Just nervous trying to figure out where I’m going to go.”
He tries to keep the nerves at bay by staying busy, driving back and forth from his home in Pittsburgh to Penn State to continue training.
He’s busy packing up his apartment in State College, separating the necessities that he will need immediately when his new address is cemented from what he can pick up later when he's more settled.
He may not have to go far to get the stuff he doesn’t need right away because Brisker could end up going to the Eagles in the second round. The second round is where he is projected to go, and some mock drafts have him landing with the Eagles as the team’s 51st overall selection.
There’s no question the lives of nearly 300 college players will change in a big way once draft weekend is over. Many will become millionaires, others will be on their way to becoming one. At the very least, it’s an opportunity to play a game for a living.
Brisker, who just turned 23 on April 20, tries his best not to think about the life-changing part of it.
“I do a little bit here and there,” he said. “I don’t think it’s hit me yet, but every time I get one of those (life-changing) thoughts or whatever, it starts hitting me, but I still try not to think about it.”
There are some very good safeties in this draft, which begins Thursday with the first round followed by Friday's second and third rounds, and the final four rounds slated for Saturday.
Brisker is right up there with them, probably in the tier right below first-round prospects Kyle Hamilton of Notre Dame and Michigan’s Daxton Hill.
“I’m very versatile, playing zone, playing man, playing in the box, playing in the secondary,” Brisker said when asked what separates him from some of the others at his position in this draft.
“I feel very balanced. I can do both and I’m great at both. I’ll definitely say that. That’s what separates me, that and my communication skills and leadership.”
Jaquan Brisker at 2022 NFL Scouting Combine
USA Today
Brisker has never played football for any team outside his home state of Pennsylvania.
He played at Gateway High School in Pittsburgh before heading to Lackawanna College in Scranton. Then it was off to Penn State, spurning offers from schools such as Alabama, Pitt, and West Virginia.
He is even represented by Philadelphia-based agent Andre Odom of Athletes First.
All along the way, Brisker has shown his leadership ability.
He was a two-time captain in high school and captained Lackawanna in his only season there. He was also a captain for the Nittany Lions last season.
Those are the kinds of players the Eagles gravitate toward, and maybe they will do that with Brisker, though GM Howie Roseman doesn’t quite see things the same way as others when it comes to the safety position.
The perception outside the Eagles’ offices is that it is a position of need, one that needs to be upgraded.
Not so, Roseman said during his pre-draft availability last week, citing veteran Anthony Harris, who returned on a one-year contract, K’Von Wallace, who was a fourth-round pick in 2020, and Marcus Epps, who played nearly half the defensive snaps last year.
The GM added two others - Andre Chachere, who was brought in from Indianapolis last year, and Jared Mayden, who was signed to the practice squad last October after being cut by the 49ers.
There is a bit of connection to Philadelphia for Brisker in that he knows Miles Sanders well. He and the Eagles’ running back are from the same area, with Sanders playing for Woodland Hills High School, which is in the WPIAL with Gateway, and at Penn State.
Sanders was the Eagles’ second-round pick in 2019.
“I talk to him a lot,” said Brisker. “He’s from where I’m from. I was supposed to go to Woodland Hills. I knew him when I was little…just trying to see what he was doing (before the draft) and things like that but I’m trying to talk to a bunch of different players to get some different perspectives.”
RELATED: Eagles' Draft Preview: Safeties - Sports Illustrated
As for Brisker, he will play anywhere, not just in Pennsylvania. That’s the mantra of most prospects – they don’t care where they play as long as they play.
He plans on watching the draft from his home in Pittsburgh with family – and there is plenty of that with four brothers and three sisters – and friends.
Maybe they can help keep the nerves at bay while he waits to hear his name called.
Either way, it figures to be a busy three days for many Nittany Lions, with several expected to get drafted.
In addition to Brisker, Penn State also has WR Jahan Dotson, edge rusher Arnold Ebiketie, linebacker Brandon Smith, cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields, and others.
“I’m very happy for my teammates,” said Brisker. “It’s a great group of guys. I really can’t wait to see what’s going to go on these next few days.”
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
