Brown discusses transition to safety
Asking Jahmar Brown when he started playing safety, and the answer is a little complicated.
Brown, who came to South Carolina as a linebacker, first took snaps in the secondary last season and waffled between the two positions for a while before ultimately making the permanent move to defensive back during fall camp.
“It’s definitely been different,” Brown said. “There’s a lot of linebacker tendencies I have to get out of my system and things I have to clean up but all in all it’s been pretty good, I would say.”
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Brown had a very up and down first two years at South Carolina, battling injuries for the better part of that time that’s limited him to 10 total games with 12 tackles and a forced fumble.
Things came to a head in 2020 where, because of injuries, he played in only one game and watched the majority of the season from the sideline with his weight fluctuating between 220 pounds to 205 to 210.
But in came a fresh start with a new coaching staff—including new defensive coordinator Clayton White and position coach Torrian Gray—and a fresh start for Brown making the full-time switch with a weight sitting at 211 pounds now.
Athletically he fits the bill as a SEC safety, now it’s about getting his feet under him to try and chisel out a role in White’s defense.
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“Now being more of a safety with more athletic bodies I feel like I’m blending in more with the safeties and defensive backs,” Brown said. “I don’t feel like there’s nothing anymore that flashes but feel like I’m blending in with all the guys.”
It’s been a learning process as he is immersed fully into the defensive back room with Brown learning quickly he needs to really get better at some of the things making good safeties good.
He mentioned backpedaling is new to him coming over from linebacker and man coverage needs to improve as well, but Brown was taking second-team reps Tuesday.
“Safety will teach me to read defenses a lot better, see the entirety of the formation, how receivers operate. At linebacker I was more focused on the front seven and the things quarterbacks, running backs, offensive linemen do and wasn’t focused on receiver responsibility, receiver step counts,” he said. “I wasn’t focused on stuff like that.”
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Time will tell if Brown can stay healthy and acclimate to the safety position enough to earn snaps and potentially compete for a starting role.
There will still be some growing pains, but Brown thinks the move will benefit him in his development.
“I feel like safety is helping me out a lot in my development as an athlete,” he said, “as a football player.”
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