NSD Peer-to-Peer: Safety Austin Brown breaks down Badgers defensive commits

Wisconsin's 2022 class stands at 13 commits heading into Wednesday's early signing period. You have heard about each future Badger from the analysts, the coaches, the players themselves ... but what about one of their soon-to-be teammates?

BadgerBlitz.com spoke with UW quarterback commit Myles Burkett on Saturday afternoon about his peers that are projected to be on the offensive side of the ball. On Tuesday afternoon, safety Austin Brown discussed those on predicted to play on defense.

When talking with the Wisconsin defensive back on Dec. 14, BadgerBlitz.com asked Brown's opinions on what stands out about each player, and what they will bring to the program.

"I met Aidan actually at the Northwestern game. I think he was on an official visit, and I was just doing an in-game visit. I think maybe two days later or a day so after, he ended up committing, so that was good news to me.

"I started talking to him right away. He seemed like a nice, humble guy. He had good size. I think he's about 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4. I just told him I was like, you can come here and play for one of the best defensive teams in college football, gonna play for the best defensive coordinator in college football, and I think he grasped that real good. And then he'd seen the entire atmosphere of everybody in Madison that day in Camp Randall and that led to him coming in two days later.

"I watched some film on him as well. Right away, I think he's 6-foot-3, 215 [pounds], which is good size. He's obviously gonna go up in weight a little bit. I'd say he's playing inside linebacker for sure. But right away, I noticed how fast he was. He had a few videos of him returning kicks, some plays at running back, wide receiver, and they have plays of him playing in coverage, too. So that was good to see.

"You know, you always want to get an athletic linebacker. But times have changed. For the past 20, 30 years when linebackers all 250 pounds, they're just downhill coming in the hole, hitting running backs. A lot of times now, linebackers are usually around like 225, 230. They're lower weight, but Leo Chenal makes 260 look like he's 220, so I'm not speaking for him. But a lot of times, linebackers tend to be on the lighter end of things now -- more athletic -- so seeing that in his film, especially playing offense. He had reps at running back and wide receiver, seeing that getaway speed and his overall athleticism, that'll transition great over to college for sure. Especially if he can keep that up and gain weight, he'll be a dog for sure."