NFL prospects Chase and Sydney Brown are set to visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Wednesday, according to Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network.
The twin brothers from London, Ont. have risen through this year’s draft process thanks in part to strong showings at the NFL Combine. Each NFL team is permitted to hold only 30 official pre-draft visits not including those conducted with prospects from the immediate geographical area. These visits are considered one of the final pieces of evaluation heading into the draft.
Chase led all running backs at the NFL Combine with 25 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press, a 40-inch vertical jump and a ten-foot, seven-inch broad jump. He also ran a 4.43-second forty-yard dash, which ranked fifth among running backs.
The five-foot-nine, 209-pound ball-carrier is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons at the University of Illinois. He was a finalist for the prestigious Doak Walker Award this past year, which is awarded annually to the best running back in all of college football. He also named second-team All-Big Ten, a Senior Bowl All-American, and the winner of the Jon Cornish Trophy.
Sydney ran a 4.47-second forty-yard dash at the NFL Combine with a 1.51-second ten-yard split, which was the fourth-best among safeties. He also recorded 23 reps on the bench press, a 40.5-inch vertical jump, and a ten-foot, ten-inch broad jump.
The five-foot-ten, 211-pound defender made a career-high six interceptions this past season along with 60 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, seven knockdowns, one sack, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. He was named first-team All-Big Ten, a Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week, and a finalist for the Jon Cornish Trophy.
The brothers are generally projected to be mid-round picks in this year’s draft. Players who are taken in the mid-rounds of the NFL draft generally fall to the last few rounds of the CFL draft for fear that they will never play north of the border.
This year’s NFL draft will take place from Thursday, April 27 to Saturday, April 29 in Kansas City, Mo. The first round will occur on Thursday evening, the second and third rounds will occur on Friday evening, and the final four rounds will be conducted on Saturday.
The 2023 CFL Draft will be held on the evening of Tuesday, May 2. The Brown twins are the two highest-ranked prospects in this year’s draft class.
