Jaquan Brisker becomes third Nittany Lion to go in 2022 NFL Draft. What to know
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2022 NFL Draft
The 2022 NFL Draft, April 28-30, includes a number of Nittany Lion draft hopefuls. The Centre Daily Times has each round covered.
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Former Penn State Nittany Lion safety Jaquan Brisker was taken No. 48 overall by the Chicago Bears with the 16th pick of the second round in the 2022 NFL Draft on Friday night. That marked the highest in the draft ever for a Penn State safety.
Brisker is the third Nittany Lion to go in this year’s draft after Jahan Dotson went No. 16 to the Washington Commanders and Arnold Ebiketie went No. 38 to the Atlanta Falcons.
The former Penn Stater became a leader in his final year with the program, receiving praise from teammates and coaches alike for his ability to take charge. Brisker was one of the stars of the 2021 defense, accumulating 63 tackles and two interceptions.
That includes an interception that helped seal a victory in the team’s first game of the season against Wisconsin on the road at Camp Randall Stadium.
During the pre-draft process, Brisker ran a 4.49 40-yard dash at the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine before withdrawing from drills and testing due to an injury suffered during his bench press at the event.
The 6-foot-1, 199-pound safety was able to play the run and the pass well during his time at Penn State, but broke out during the 2021 season.
He spent a total of three seasons at Penn State after having played two years at Lackawanna Community College. In those three years as a Nittany Lion, he made 21 starts and made 153 tackles, 9.5 of which were for loss, hauled in five interceptions and broke up 14 passes in 34 career games played.
An anonymous NFL scout told the Centre Daily Times he could blossom into a starter in the NFL.
“He’s a potential starter at safety,” the scout said. “It’s gonna take him some time to be what Penn State saw, similar to his career, where even though he started it wasn’t always pretty; then this year he kind of set it on fire. (His NFL career) is gonna be similar to that.”
This story was originally published April 29, 2022 at 8:25 PM.
