Learn more about cornerback Brandin Echols in this edition of Five Fast Facts.
Echols was signed to a two-year contract at the start of free agency. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft and has spent the last four seasons in New York.
His rookie season he started 14 games, missing three while on the Reserve/Injured List. He finished the season with 63 tackles, 50 of them solo stops, two tackles for a loss, two interceptions, including one he returned 20 yards for a touchdown, and nine passes defensed. He was tied for sixth-most passes defensed among rookies, and the only rookie with nine plus passes defensed not selected in the first or second round. Echols was voted the Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week against the Miami Dolphins when he returned the interception 20 yards for a touchdown, only the second defensive touchdown by a Jets rookie since 2000.
Echols was a zero-star recruit coming out of Southaven (Mississippi) High School despite putting up big numbers. He had 29 receptions for 406 yards, rushed for 906 yards and had 16 touchdowns combined his senior season. He enrolled at NW Mississippi Community College to play receiver before he switched to cornerback and eventually went to Kentucky.
Echols didn’t just stick to football in high school, also playing basketball and being a member of the track team. He was on the Clarion-Ledger’s all-state team when he won the state championship in the long jump.
Echols played college football at Kentucky where he played in 24 games, with 22 straight starts. He finished with 108 tackles, four and a half tackles for a loss, 11 passes broken up, two forced fumbles and an interception.
