Jared Brown, South Carolina: 2025 NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report

Brown was a three-star recruit from Parkview High School in Lilburn, Ga. in the class of 2021

Wide receiver Jared Brown mixes high-end burst and speed with surprising contact balance for a prospect with his build and frame. He’s an elusive athlete that Coastal Carolina schemed plenty of touches for in 2023, but his route tree and release package need to develop for him to warrant more than a mid-Day 3 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

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Jared Brown, WR South Carolina: 2025 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Redshirt junior slot receiver from Lilburn, Ga.

Background: Brown was a three-star recruit from Parkview High School in Lilburn, Ga. in the class of 2021. He was the No. 1,072 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 1,066 for On3.com. Brown was an unranked three-star recruit for Rivals and an unranked three-star recruit for ESPN with a 77 grade out of 100. He transferred from Coastal Carolina to South Carolina for the 2024 season. As a high school senior, Brown amassed 854 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. He also carried the ball ten times for 43 yards and a touchdown and intercepted two passes on defense as a cornerback. According to MaxPreps, Brown caught 51 passes for 969 yards and 11 touchdowns as a junior. He earned 7A Second Team All-Region honors from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for the campaign. Brown left high school with the program’s record for career receiving yards with 1,987. He also scored 35 touchdowns during his high school career. Brown lettered on the track and field team at Parkview.

Injuries & Off-Field: Exited Southern Mississippi game with a lower body injury (2022), ruled out for part of the game vs. East Carolina (2022) with an upper body injury, exited game vs. Arkansas State (2023) with an unspecified injury

Awards: 2022 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year, 2022 FWAA Freshman All-American, 2022 Second Team Freshman All-American (CFN), 2023 Honorable Mention All-Sun Belt

Pros: Returned half a dozen punts in 2023, cut down on drops in 2023, appears to have long arms for his size, track speed, quick with long strides, smooth acceleration to top speed, pulls away from defenders on shallow to intermediate crossers, quick and effective cuts at full speed, good re-acceleration after route fakes, one-on-one nightmare to tackle in space, agility and reactive quickness lead to instance elusiveness after the catch, arm tackles slide right off him, impressive contact balance, post-catch rocker step to freeze DBs before flying past them, nice burst to stress or erase pursuit angles, explosive burst to hit home runs after the catch, willing to shield ball carrier as a blocker

Cons: Limited special teams experience, minimal experience playing out wide, frame is unspectacular, stands upright going into his release, late off the line at times, release package infrequently challenged, lots of free releases, more urgency needed early in the route, contact causes significant route disruption, still built like a track sprinter, schemed many touches at or behind the LOS, extremely low ADOT, route tree needs to expand to include more downfield routes, very limited route tree, routes are predictable, route running doesn’t generate natural separation, defenders easily wait and mirror his route’s break in off-man coverage, flies through his route breaks which leads to rounding routes, takes a little too much time getting out of the break on whip route, bad history of drops, registered seven drops in 2022, fights the ball at the catch point occasionally, turns and looks to run before completing the catch, not a challenging opponent at the catch point, carries ball too far away from frame when trying to break tackles, lacks the play strength to land and sustain blocks

Overview: Brown returned half a dozen punts in 2023 but generally doesn’t play a large role on special teams. More than 88% of his offensive snaps in college have come in the slot. He is a slot-only prospect, considering his unspectacular sprinter’s frame. To Brown’s credit, he appears to have long arms for his size. The Coastal Carolina transfer’s best weapon is his track speed. His quick and long strides and smooth acceleration allow him to pull away from defenders over the middle of the field. His burst and long speed give him home run capabilities, which is why the Chanticleers schemed him plenty of touches at or behind the line of scrimmage. In 2023, Brown was frequently in motion at the time of the snap, so he got a running head start. This was one of the ways Coastal Carolina’s offense helped him avoid press coverage. Brown’s release package is underdeveloped and wasn’t challenged much during his first three seasons. He stands upright going into his release and is occasionally late off the line, making him an easy target for defensive backs. Contact early in the route throws Brown off his path and significantly hinders his progress. The redshirt junior knows he’s fast, which leads to him lacking urgency early in some routes. Once into his route, Brown makes quick and effective cuts. His re-acceleration after route fakes really pops. Unfortunately, his route tree is very underdeveloped, and his route running doesn’t generate much separation because he’s predictable. Defenders wait and mirror his breaks at the top of the stem. Brown also rounds his routes as he tends to fly through his cuts. The former three-star recruit fights the ball at the catch point and has a bad history of drops. He cleaned up some of these issues in 2023 but still lets some gimme throws hit the turf. Brown is a nightmare for defenders after the catch. His agility and reactive quickness make him a difficult man for defenders to pin down. Arm tackles often slide right off Brown because of his impressive contact balance. His best post-catch move is his rocker step, which freezes the defensive back before Brown flies past them. He also has the burst to stress or erase pursuit angles. Reel Analytics estimated he reached 20.9 miles per hour on a touchdown against Appalachian State in 2022. Brown carries the ball too far away from his frame when attempting to break tackles. This will lead to fumbles in the NFL. He is willing to shield ball carriers as a blocker but lacks the play strength to sustain blocks.

Overall, Brown combines an intriguing mix of explosiveness, elusiveness, and contact balance into a mediocre frame. His reliance on schemed touches and free releases and lack of polish as a route runner puts a cap on his projection to the next level. Playing more on special teams and filling a more pro-ready role would give Brown’s grade a sizeable bump.

Role & Scheme Fit: Slot receiver and gadget player in an 11 personnel scheme

Round Grade: Mid Fifth to Early Sixth Round

Size: 6'0", 190 lbs. (Unofficial)

Submitted: 05-12-24