Wisconsin football safety Austin Brown primed for breakout season in 2025
Wisconsin Badgers safety Austin Brown is locking into one role in 2025, and coaches believe he’s ready for a breakout season in the Big Ten.
The University of Wisconsin football program is searching for defensive playmakers, and Austin Brown could be ready to step into that role.
You saw it on his high school tape. The range, the instincts, the physicality, the ability to cover ground and erase mistakes. You saw a guy who checked all the boxes physically and looked the part of a future starter in the Big Ten. And to Wisconsin’s credit, they were one of the programs that saw that and stayed consistent in Brown's recruitment.
Fast forward a few years, and we’re now entering a critical season for Brown, a player who has always had the raw ability but is finally being put in a position to take on a more featured role in Mike Tressel’s defense.
This is a guy who has seen the field. Played a lot of football, amassing 856 career snaps. Made an impact. But for a variety of reasons, whether it was injuries to others, the need for versatility, or just the way the depth chart shook out, he hasn’t quite been unleashed. Not fully. Not yet.
During the 2024 season, Brown was asked to play a big nickel role for the defense out of necessity. And while that showcased his ability to handle multiple responsibilities and move around the formation, it wasn’t exactly the spot many believe he's best suited to play or where he could make the most significant impact. That’s changing now. And coaches believe it’s exactly what he needed to reach his ceiling.
"There's been a lot of growth from AB," position coach Jack Cooper told reporters during spring practice. "I think a lot of it comes from a maturity standpoint and really taking the big picture parts of the game, football IQ, understanding big picture offensive stuff, and just taking it to the next dimension. It's not only good enough to know what I'm doing, but also to know what the opponent's going to do to me, so I've been really proud of him in his maturity that way."
That’s not just coach-speak. There’s evidence behind that statement. Real data. Real progress. And the hope is that it can translate onto the field.
From rotational piece to potential difference-maker
Brown played in all 13 games as a true freshman in 2022 under Paul Chryst and interim head coach Jim Leonhard, mostly on special teams.
In 2023, he carved out a larger role under Luke Fickell and his staff, starting four games and totaling 37 tackles, seven stops, five pressures, a sack, and two pass breakups. Brown capped that season with a career-high nine tackles in the ReliaQuest Bowl against LSU.
Then came 2024.
Brown played in 12 games and made eight starts, logging 459 total defensive snaps, 266 of them in the slot. He finished with 51 tackles (30 solo), 12 stops, four pressures, three pass breakups, a sack, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. He also delivered some of his best performances against the Badgers’ toughest competition, including nine tackles, 2.0 TFLs, a strip sack, and a pass breakup at USC. He also had 10 tackles on the road at Nebraska and eight against Penn State.
That’s big-time production against some quality Big Ten opponents. But even that doesn’t tell the whole story.
According to Pro Football Focus Stable Metrics, Brown posted a 75.9 coverage grade, which landed him in the 74th percentile nationally, and he did it with no penalties in coverage. That’s not just solid. That’s reliable, consistent, and high-level football from the Illinois native.
“We’re excited about the progress Austin Brown has made in terms of his confidence and his willingness to shoot his gun,” Tressel said.
Let’s break it down by alignment.
When deployed at safety, Brown logged 38 coverage snaps and posted a 95th percentile grade of 74.4, allowing four receptions on four targets for just 15 total yards. He was even more effective at free safety, where he earned a 98th percentile coverage grade, surrendering just one catch on one target for four yards over 22 snaps. In the slot, his most frequent alignment, Brown delivered a 73.1 grade, which placed him in the 77th percentile nationally, giving up 11 receptions on 17 targets for 111 yards.
The deeper you go, the more it becomes clear: Brown can handle whatever is thrown his way. And perhaps most importantly for his position, he doesn’t often miss tackles. His 5.4% missed tackle rate ranked in the 95th percentile, showing he’s not just a coverage asset, but a guy who can clean things up when the play breaks down.