After the graduation of one of the best wide receivers in NIU history, it’s been Da’Ron Brown who has stepped up for football.

Brown takes over for wide out Martel Moore, who finished his career No. 2 in receiving yards and touchdown receptions with 2,544 and 24, respectively. Moore also finished at No. 4 with 178 career receptions.

With Moore gone this season, redshirt senior quarterback Jordan Lynch was without a play-making, go-to wide receiver.

“Losing the receivers we had last year, we needed some receivers to step up this year,” Brown said. “One receiver being myself, but pretty much in the offseason I was just working on routes, getting my routes down, catching a lot more passes so I could be a lot more consistent in the passing game.”

Following the Huskies’ loss to Florida State in the Orange Bowl, Lynch and Brown started working together in the offseason to strengthen their chemistry. Right away, Lynch and Brown found themselves on the same page.

“Da’Ron got a lot of playing time last year, and as soon as Martel left, Da’Ron [filled] that role pretty nicely,” Lynch said. “Da’Ron brings a lot of things to his game. He’s fast, he has good hands, you know, big paws that allow him just snag anything, and he’s football smart. He lines up well, and he became one of my go-to guys this year.”

The duo’s chemistry shows in the red zone, as Brown leads the Huskies with seven touchdown receptions. Lynch and Brown are especially dangerous when they run their favorite route: a fade route in the red zone.

“To me, when we’re in the red zone, it’s touchdown area and everyone wants to get paid down there,” Brown said. “I feel like I just have to go and make a play. If you’re a playmaker, that’s what you want, you want a chance to score a touchdown, that’s what you look for. And so when we get down there I expect to get the ball down there because I wanna make plays.”

While Brown is dangerous in the red zone, he is one of Lynch’s favorite targets when throwing the deep ball this season. On the season, they have connected on three touchdown passes of 25 or more yards. Their long of the season was a 53-yard touchdown strike against Kent State.

“Da’Ron is one of the fastest guys on the field,” Lynch said. “He can cut the field in half, he can really get out there and blow by any coverage, blow the top off the coverage, and that’s something good to have…. No one wants to see him beat them deep.”