Inked for the Wisconsin Badgers: Three-star safety Austin Brown

With the early signing period for high school football players beginning on Dec. 15, BadgerBlitz.com dives into a closer look at the commits who have signed with the Wisconsin Badgers.

Let's take a look at safety Austin Brown, who officially signed with Wisconsin on Wednesday.

Brown, a first-team all-state pick as a junior and senior, ultimately chose Wisconsin over Boston College, Illinois, Northwestern and Michigan, the four other programs he visited officially this past summer.

Overall, Brown received 19 offers, according to Rivals.com. Other Power 5 opportunities for the 6-foot-1, 195-pound recruit included Iowa, Iowa State, Louisville, Minnesota, Purdue and Vanderbilt. As a senior, Brown racked up 87 tackles and five interceptions. He also ran for 1,313 yards and scored 18 touchdowns on the other side of the ball.

"How close the players and coaches seemed to be stood out to me. Coach (Paul) Chryst's message was that you will leave with a great degree and be part of a great football program," Brown told BadgerBlitz.com. "The coaches were all excited when I told them my decision."

"All the coaches who recruited him appreciated the same things with Austin," head coach Todd Thomas told BadgerBlitz.com. "His last two steps in closing and ability to strike really stands out. He's an extremely powerful athlete - maybe not the fastest, but he's just very explosive and very powerful. He invites contact and is a very physical player at 195 pounds. He has the prototypical safety build and probably could put on enough weight if they ever wanted him to play outside linebacker. Wisconsin is going to have a lot of options with him and I wouldn't rule him out being a very good special teams player for them as well.

"Austin is a naturally strong kid. Even though he's a three- or four-sport athlete, he spends a lot of time in the weight room. I think that when he's able to just concentrate on football at Wisconsin and he gets to focus on the weight room, they can do anything they want with him. He can stay at that size and focus on becoming faster and more explosive at safety. Or if he really wants to bulk up, he can play outside linebacker. I think it's going to depend on what they want him to do and where he fits in their scheme. Austin is a very team-oriented guy and I'm sure he's going to receptive to anything that is gong to help his team win. He's very motivated and when he gets into that top environment where the competition is very high, that's only going to drive him more."

It's probably not fair to compare players from different recruiting classes, but Brown will likely give the Badgers what they envisioned when Braelon Allen committed. Through no fault of his own, Allen outgrew the safety position and is now a 6-foot-1, 240-pound tailback. But there was a time when Wisconsin believed Allen could be a hybrid safety/linebacker in their 3-4 scheme, a role Brown may now take on when he arrives on campus.

There are question marks about the level of competition, but Brown's talent is going to come through at the high school platform, no matter the size of the school. His ability in coverage, though, could be something to watch early in his career at Wisconsin. We don't see a ton of that on his junior film, and that may his biggest area of adjustment at the next level. Regardless, Brown appears to be a perfect compliment to four-star Hunter Wohler, a four-star free safety/centerfielder from UW's 2021 class.

_________________________________________________

*Chat about this article in The Badgers' Den

*Check out our videos, interviews, and Q&As on our YouTube channel

*Subscribe and listen to the BadgerBlitz.com podcast (as seen on Apple, Google, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts)

*Follow us on Twitter: @McNamaraRivals, @JakeKoco, @TheBadgerNation, @RaulV45

*Like us on Facebook