Eagles draft pick Sydney Brown impressed the team with his versatility at safety

Sydney Brown wasn’t exactly sure what to expect on the second day of the NFL draft. While he gathered with his family and close friends from inside a restaurant near his native London, Ontario, in Canada, Brown received a phone call from Eagles general manager Howie Roseman late Friday evening.

Roseman informed the former Illinois safety that he was being drafted by the Eagles in the third round with the No. 66 pick.

Brown immediately embraced everyone within arm’s reach, including his twin brother Chase, a running back prospect who was later drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals, and their mother, Raechel.

“I’m beyond excited to be here,” Brown said Saturday while he was introduced by the Eagles via videoconference. “I didn’t know too much about the Eagles’ [interest]. I met with them once at Indy, had a little meeting with them at the Senior Bowl. They were kind of on my radar going into the third round, and I’m beyond blessed to have them pick me.”

Brown’s athleticism score from the scouting combine, according to Next Gen Stats, ranked first among all defensive back prospects in this year’s class. At Illinois, Brown was a multi-level safety, who regularly thrived when lined up near the box. He led the Big Ten with six interceptions, and he recorded 59 tackles and seven passes defensed.

“He has a great work ethic and that shows on the field,” Eagles director of player personnel Chuck Walls said. “He’s violent. He’s a good all-around player. They did a little bit of everything with him at Illinois, which is exciting and that matches the intellect of the player. He played split safety, he played in the post, he played in the box, they blitzed him, they man him up in the slot — they did a lot of things with him. That versatility is a plus and, at the end of the day, you can’t ever have enough guys who can do more.

“I spent a lot of time with him in the predraft process. He did very well in interviews, he was very sharp, he came across as very diligent, he’s very time-oriented. He’s a wonderful young man, who is a really great teammate, a captain. He loves the game and you can see that on tape.”

» READ MORE: Eagles think they finally drafted a ‘red star’ safety in Sydney Brown

Brown believes he boosted his stock at the Senior Bowl, where he was able to line up at different spots across the field, including at deep post safety, in front of different NFL scouts and executives.

“I definitely went into the Senior Bowl with the mindset of, ‘If I’m better at the end of Day 3 than I was Day 1, then I’m going to be in a good spot.’ I manifested that mentality throughout the entire week. I know my ability — I know what I do well and I know what I need to work on.

“I came from a system that was mainly man coverage. [Illinois defensive coordinator] Ryan Walters definitely instilled a lot of man pressures, zero blitzes, which [disregarded] a post safety. It just wasn’t my role at Illinois. I know I can [play deep safety] well. I know I can be dominant in the post. I’m confident that if they put me back there that I’ll be able to produce in any way that I can.”