The BYU Cougars will kick off the 2025 season in 72 days against Portland State. As we continue counting down the days until kickoff, today we will profile the player who wears No. 72 - redshirt freshman guard Joe Brown.
Joe Brown's background
Originally a member of BYU's class of 2022, Brown prepped locally at juggernaut Lone Peak where he was named to the 6A All-State first team. He was rated a three-star prospect by 247 Sports with a solid 86 composite rating. He was the No. 13 recruit in the state of Utah coming out of high school.
Brown's offer sheet included Power Four offers coming from Virginia and Indiana but he instead chose BYU as a preferred walk on. The Brown family has ties to Provo as Joe's brothers Terrance and Rhen both played at BYU, but it shows a lot of faith in the program for Joe to turn down scholarship offers from Big Ten and ACC schools to walk on at BYU.
After serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Brown returned to the field last year but tore his ACL before fall camp and missed the entire 2024 season. He has been limited this offseason as well as he continues to rehab, but there haven't been any reports of setbacks as he comes back from injury.
Brown's potential impact in 2025
The reality is the 6-foot-4, 305-pounder is a major wildcard. He essentially hasn't played since 2022 and is coming off a serious injury. Despite this, Jay Drew of the Deseret News reported in April that Brown could potentially, "dot the two-deep when everything becomes more concrete in late August."
As an interior offensive lineman, Brown could realistically crack the two-deep roster given BYU's relative lack of depth at the guard position. The website Ourlads currently has him as the primary backup behind transfer Kyle Sfarcioc. KSL Sports projects him on the third string behind backups Ikinasio Tupou and Sonny Makasini.
BYU's offensive line depth chart will continue to come into focus over the next couple of months.
Don't be surprised to see Joe Brown's name on the two-deep roster.