Brandin Echols (born October 16, 1997) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Northwest Mississippi Community College Northwest Mississippi Community College is a public community college in Senatobia, Mississippi. It was founded in 1928. As of 2024, Northwest's enrollment is approximately 6,800 students. There are approximately 2,000 students on the Senatobia ...

and

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

and was selected by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

in the sixth round of the

2021 NFL draft The 2021 NFL draft was the 86th National Football League draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland, Ohio from April 29 to May ...

College career

Echols was ranked as a threestar recruit by 247Sports.com coming out of high school. He committed to

on September 23, 2018.

Professional career

New York Jets

Echols was drafted by the

with the 200th pick in the sixth round of the

. On May 7, 2021, Echols officially signed with the Jets. Echols was named a starting cornerback to begin his rookie season in 2021. He started the first nine games before suffering a thigh injury in Week 10. On November 16, 2021, he was placed on injured reserve. He was activated on December 11. In 2022, Echols played in 13 games for the Jets, tallying 8 total tackles. His season ended after he was placed on injured reserve on January 7, 2023. On May 25, 2023, Echols was suspended one game by the NFL for violating the league's personal conduct policy. The suspension stemmed from a 2022 high-speed car crash Echols was involved in.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On March 13, 2025, Echols signed a two-year contract with the

Personal life

On April 22, 2022, Echols was involved in a two-car crash in

Florham Park, New Jersey Florham Park is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 12,585, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 889 (+7.6%) from the 11,696 recorded at ...

that resulted in the partial paralyzation of the other driver. Echols had been traveling 84 mph in a 50 mph zone before making contact with the other vehicle. In January 2023, Echols was charged with fourth-degree assault by auto, and was summoned for

reckless driving In United States law, reckless driving is a major moving violation related to aggressive driving that generally consists of driving a vehicle with willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property. It is usually a more serious o ...

, speeding, failure to wear a seat belt, an unsafe lane change, and improper passing. On March 10, he was accepted into a diversionary program to avoid the charges.

References

External links

Pittsburgh Steelers bioKentucky Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Echols, Brandin Living people Kentucky Wildcats football players New York Jets players People from Southaven, Mississippi Players of American football from DeSoto County, Mississippi American football cornerbacks 1997 births Pittsburgh Steelers players