#30

Sydney Brown

Former defensive back at Illinois. 2022: 6 interceptions, 7 pass breakups, 59 tackles.

DB · Illinois · Sr. · #30

6′0″ · 205 lb · London, ON

CFB Index 94 · #4 of 322 cornersLow confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamPhiladelphia — drafted 2023, Rd 3, Pick 3, #66 overall

Recruiting

3★

S recruit

No. 1598 nationally · Signed with Illinois

Statement game13 tacklesat Michigan State (FBS) · W 37-34

Top 1% tackles game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former defensive back at Illinois. 2022: 6 interceptions, 7 pass breakups, 59 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Illinois in 2018.
Drafted round 3 by the Philadelphia in 2023.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Illinois, 307 tackles, a first-team All-Conference season (2022) — drafted at #66 overall by Philadelphia.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

20189 games

Signed with Illinois3-star out of St Stephen's Episcopal School

202212 games

All-Big Tenfirst

2023

Drafted by Philadelphiaround 3, pick 66

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1598 national

CFB

College

Illinois

2018–2022

NFL

NFL Draft

R3 · #66

Philadelphia · 2023

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-BIG TEN · 1ST TEAM

All-Big Ten 1st team (2022)

Coaching lineage · 2018–2022

3 coaches

2018–2019

Lovie Smith

Illinois

2020

Rod Smith

Illinois

era →

2021–2022

Bret Bielema

Illinois

era →

Played under 3 different head coaches: Lovie Smith, Rod Smith, and Bret Bielema. Multi-era developmental context.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

PhiladelphiaEntering 4th NFL season

#66Rd 3 · Pick 3

PhiladelphiaEntering 4th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2022 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2018Illinois4-8HC: Lovie Smith · Run-heavy

2019Illinois6-7HC: Lovie Smith · Run-leaning

2020Illinois2-6HC: Rod Smith · Run-heavy

2021Illinois5-7HC: Bret Bielema · Run-leaning

2022Illinois8-5HC: Bret Bielema · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

94All-America level #4 of 322?

Low confidence8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: interceptions (99th percentile). Strength: passes defended (95th percentile).

Box-score production (8)

Interceptions#2 / 811 · 99th pct

Passes defended#111 / 2755 · 95th pct

Solo tackles#206 / 2755 · 92nd pct

Tackles#379 / 2755 · 86th pct

Tackles for loss#868 / 2755 · 66th pct

3.5

Sacks#845 / 2755 · 61st pct

1.0

QB hurries#823 / 2755 · 59th pct

Forced fumbles#58 / 737 · 46th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2022 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	4.3	0.1	0.1	0.9
Road5g	5.8	0.5	0.0	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	4.0	0.3	0.1	1.0
Weeks 8+5g	6.2	0.3	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Bret Bielema

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2022

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

our read the All-Conference 1st team honor is earned — and the box score backs it up emphatically: #4 of 322 FBS cornerbacks by CFB Index Score.2022 profile

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

94 · #4 of 322 corners

Three-star recruit. Now #4 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2022	Illinois	59	40	3.5	1.0	7	6	--
2021	Illinois	69	43	1.5	1.0	3	--	--
2020	Illinois	36	20	0.5	0.0	--	--	--
2019	Illinois	88	51	2.5	0.0	1	3	--
2018	Illinois	55	25	2.0	0.0	5	1	--
Career		307	179	10.0	2.0	16	10	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 7 · 2022

W 26–14

vs Minnesota

5 TOT · 2 SOLO · 1 PD

With T. DeVito — 252 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 96.0 · 17 rush yds (3 car) · 1 TD · C. Brown — 180 rush yds (41 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2022 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 38-6vs Wyoming	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	1	Season-high 8 tackles
Wk 1	L 20-23@ Indiana	8	4	1.0	0.0	—	0	Season-high 8 tackles
Wk 2	W 24-3vs Virginia	4	4	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 4	W 31-0vs Chattanooga	3	2	1.0	1.0	—	1
Wk 5	W 34-10@ Wisconsin	1	1	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 6	W 9-6vs Iowa	5	4	0.0	0.0	—	2
Wk 7	W 26-14vs Minnesota	5	2	0.0	0.0	1	1
Wk 9	W 26-9@ Nebraska	6	4	1.5	0.0	2	0
Wk 10	L 15-23vs Michigan State	4	4	0.0	0.0	1	0
Wk 11	L 24-31vs Purdue	7	5	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 17-19@ Michigan	8	5	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	W 41-3@ Northwestern	6	4	0.0	0.0	2	0
Total		59	40	3.5	1.0	6	7

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Sydney Brown

20189 games

202212 games

2023

2022 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

All-Conference 1st team

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Rover

Players who play like Sydney Brown