2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Antario Brown, RB, Northern Illinois

Antario Brown has had a strong outing to begin the 2024 season with Northern Illinois. He hopes to continue his upward draft stock as the season wears on. Hula Bowl Scout PJ Hardaway breaks him down as an NFL prospect in his recent report.

Player Data

Name, Jersey #	Antario Brown # 1
School (Code)	Northern Illinois (ILNO)
DOB, Class Yr	12/29/2002, Senior
Height, Weight	5096v, 220v
Hand, Arm, Wing	0878v, 3038v, 7228v
40 Yd Dash	4.54v
Position/Depth	RB/Starter
Honors/Captainship	2023 All-Mac First Team, 2023 Doak Walker watch list /2022 Honorable Mention All-Mac (CFN)
Season Viewed (yr)	2023/2024
Games Watched	Notre Dame, Western Illinois, Nebraska
Scout Name / Date	Paul “PJ” Hardaway/ September 14th, 2023

Per Year Stats (Most Recent First)

2024	2 GP/ 28 Att, 168 Yds, 0 TD, 6.0 Avg/Receiving 4 Rec, 171 Yds, 42.8 Avg, 1 TD/Scrimmage 339 Yds 10.6 Avg. 1 TD
2023	13 GP/ 212 Att, 1296 Yds, 10 TD 6.1 Avg/Receiving 12 Rec, 52 Yds 4.3 Avg 1 TD/Scrimmage 224 Plays 1348 Yds, 6.0 Avg. 11 TD
2022	10 GP/ 110 Att, 689 Yds, 6.3 Avg 7 TD/Receiving 1 Rec, 7 Yds 7.0 Avg 0 TD/Scrimmage 111 Plays 696 Yds 6.3 Avg. 1 TD
2021	10 GP/ 81 Att, 538 Yds, 6.6 Avg 5 TD/Receiving 0 Rec, 0 Yds 0.0 Avg 0 TD/Scrimmage 81 Plays, 538 Yds 6.6 Avg. 5 TD

Player Summary:

4-year letterman, 2-year starter who has played in 35 career games and has 21 starts under his belt. Has an athletically thick build of a body. Has good patience behind blocks, does a good job at pressing his OL on the LOS when attacking the gap. Does a good job navigating through crowded defensive fronts and identifying open running lanes. A true workhorse back that causes mismatch out in space, great hands out of the backfield, wasting no time getting up field after the catch. Displays a good job at change of direction once outside of tackle when getting to the next level. Does not go down after first contact in the open field, displays a good motor with solid play strength at first contact. Does not do well in pass protection, displays inconsistency in blocking, fails to maintain proper positioning against blitzing defenders. Lacks the ability to stay square and maintain leverage once engaged with a defender in pass pro at point of engagement. Does not do well vs solid blitzers, gets caught not extending arms and relying on upper body to contain defenders in traffic at LOS, which affects his ability to sink his hips against more powerful rushers. Needs work with lateral movement in tight spaces, fails to elude athletic defenders off the line of scrimmage at times when trying to break tackles, coupled with his inability to make defenders miss in the backfield.