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2020 NFL Draft Player Profiles: Maryland S Antoine Brooks Jr.

From now until the 2020 NFL Draft takes place, we hope to showcase as many prospects as possible and examine both their strengths and weaknesses. Most of these profiles will feature individuals that the Pittsburgh Steelers are likely to have an interest in, while a few others will be top-ranked players. If there is a player you would like us to analyze, let us know in the comments below.

#25 Antoine Brooks Jr./S Maryland – 5’10/5 220

The Good

– Thick build, fills out frame well
– Plays with an edge, physical player who plays with intensity on a snap-to-snap basis
– Wears his emotions on his sleeve, energy bringer, genuinely roots for teammates to succeed
– Impactful tackler who enjoys throwing his weight around and getting involved in plays, putting his face in the fan
– Delivers a blow on contact thanks to his frame and aggressive play style, fills lanes with authority and does good job finishing the play
– Versatile, experience playing in the box, over slot, and some work as post safety
– Experience in man, zone, asked to blitz who uses power to overwhelm running backs in pass pro
– Good hands and makes plays when given opportunity
– Lots of starting experience

The Bad

– Average to below average athlete on tape and in testing, best working close to the LOS
– Shows hip stiffness and exposed when asked to change directions
– Lacks straight line speed and can get beat by fast receivers
– Tends to aim too low in the open field as a tackler and prone to missing, isn’t always a technical tackler who will lead with shoulder and rely on frame/physicality to get the ball carrier down
– Didn’t create a lot of splash/big plays
– Some medical questions, recovered but suffered career-threatening injury in high school

Bio

– 35 career starts
– Career: 237 tackles (27.